June Mar Fajardo’s 4th MVP is all too real now

 

Remember how good the Cleveland Cavaliers were in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the eventual champs, the Golden State Warriors?

The Cavs were hitting record numbers!

Plus it was as if they were on the verge of becoming the first team to get out of a 1-3 bind in the NBA Finals for the second consecutive season.

But that didn’t happen.

And add local flavour in this scenario and this is basically what happened with the Barangay Ginebra Kings when they met TNT Katropa in their semifinal matchup.

So now that’s that and right now we anticipate the battle between TNT and the San Miguel Beermen. The Beermen defeated the Star Hotshots wherein June Mar Fajardo continued to parade his MVP form.

And this is why I made this blog.

San Miguel has dominated the league with the arrival of The Kraken. Fajardo may have lost the Top Rookie plum to Calvin Abueva… but since his rookie year, he has been named MVP. I guess this is why I thought Arnold Van Opstal’s career would never take off. June Mar is last conference’s Best Player and while his numbers dipped with the entry of Charles Rhodes, he is still a force to note.

For as long as Fajardo is delivering the Mon Fernandez-like numbers, he could eclipse the accomplishments of El Presidente.

The successful seasons of San Miguel coincide with the awesomeness of Fajardo. Right now he is tied with Bogs Adornado for number of MVP wins and he’s a title away from obtaining the feats displayed by both mentor Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio.

And with San Miguel facing TNT in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals, it seems likely that Fajardo will become the first player to win four consecutive MVP titles… as well as the fastest to win it.

It’s hard to crack The Kraken’s capabilities to get the feat especially if San Miguel wins this conference. All he needs to do is at least play a relative number of games with the same statistical flurry in the Governors’ Cup. As far as I can see, the only players that could trump Fajardo are Jayson Castro as well as the Ginebra tandem of LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar.

Ginebra has lived and died with LA Tenorio’s decision-making and with the nostalgia factor kicking in his favor, he could get the nod if Ginebra manages to play in next conference’s championship (think Jimmy Alapag). People forget that while Ginebra lost the series because Justin Brownlee can’t knock off Joshua Smith during the payoff periods because he’s too small, it takes a 180 turn come the Governors’ Cup. Tenorio could feed off the dominance of Brownlee… but that also means he could help Japeth elevate his game even more.

Let’s agree and not disagree that Tim Cone is Japeth Aguilar’s best coach. Ever since the two-time grand slam coach got hold of the former WKU jammer, his game has taken off to another level. This is what people wanted from Aguilar. Now he is not just a spotmonkey. He swats shots as if he’s a volleyball spiker. He has a decent side jumper as well as a triple bomber. His decision making isn’t as bad as it was early in his career and yeah, Cone did something the likes of Rajko Toroman, Chot Reyes, and Yeng Guiao failed to do – and that is to control Japeth Aguilar to what is his best PBA year.

And finally we have Jayson Castro. Now The Blur is always in the conversation in the Mythical First Team but frequent DNPs due to rest and injury will make it difficult for Castro to become a solid MVP threat to Fajardo. I know Fajardo and Aguilar are also Gilas Pilipinas shoo-ins but it feels that Castro carries a lot more burden than his teammates… and this could play a factor.

Like I said, Fajardo is an early lock for PBA MVP even in the middle of the season.

Not unless a player for some reason averages 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists next conference… which I highly doubt.