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| June Mar Fajardo would love to see Japeth Aguilar win the PBA Governors' Cup title after losing to him in the BPC. Richard Esguerra |
QUEZON CITY--While June Mar Fajardo was in a celebratory mood on Sunday night after receiving his 11th PBA Best Player of the Conference award, the superstar center thought it would have been sweeter if San Miguel was in the Governors' Cup Finals.
Fajardo became the first player in five years to win the BPC award even if his team did not make the finals of a certain conference since Christian Standhardinger won the 2019 Governors' Cup BPC despite NorthPort just making the semifinals.
Curiously enough, both the Batang Pier and the Beermen were eventually knocked out by Barangay Ginebra.
"Yun naman talaga yung goal: yung makapasok sa finals at makakuha ng championship, so yung ganito, consolation ito," Fajardo said in a press conference right after receiving the award at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Some fans even entertained the thought that Japeth Aguilar, who is turning back time with a vintage performance so far, should win the BPC since Ginebra made the finals.
However, the media votes, which have been a significant factor in determining the BPC and Best Import winners over the years, favored Fajardo over Aguilar, too.
The former got 34 out of 37 possible first-place votes, and the latter got the other three plus 31 second-place votes.
Fajardo hopes the BPC loss would fuel Aguilar more in his title aspirations.
"Maganda rin yung naging conference ni Japeth. Sa akin na lang muna yung BPC. Sa kanya na yung championship," the eight-time MVP and 10-time champion further said.
Hours later, Aguilar put on some sort of a revenge game, scoring 18 points, six rebounds, and two assists in the Gin Kings' 106-92 Game 4 win against the TNT Tropang Giga to the delight of a supermajority of 16,783 fans.
With Justin Brownlee finally exploding this series and more local help with Stephen Holt also stepping up, Ginebra has a fighting chance for its 16th PBA pennant and Aguilar's ninth title.
If someone who is not a Gin King could be more than happy to see his good friend and longtime Gilas teammate win it all, it could be Fajardo.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
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