Fajardo on tasting his first PBA championship: 'Lasang beer'
When San Miguel Beer center June Mar Fajardo was asked how a PBA championship tasted, the big man had a fitting answer.
“Lasang beer,” noted Fajardo, drawing cheers from sportscribes who patiently waited in the Araneta Coliseum lobby following the Beermen’s classic 80-78 victory over the Alaska Aces in their winner-take-all match in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals before a mammoth Wednesday night crowd of over 22,500.
Virtually a non-factor in their 87-76 setback in Game 6 last Sunday when he could only come up with nine points on seven limited attempts from the field, Fajardo came back with a vengeance, racking up 21 points and hauling down a game-high 25 rebounds—the most of any local cager in the league’s finals history—aside from making a huge defensive stop against Aces’ steady center Sonny Thoss in the pivotal juncture.
Up by just a point at 79-78 following the go-ahead, cold-blooded triple by eventual Finals MVP Arwind Santos, Fajardo—tired and all—made sure Thoss won’t take him to school in the lane for the third consecutive time as he held his ground and forced the Aces center to take a tough left-handed lay-up against his outstretched arms, resulting in a crucial miss that virtually helped seal the deal for the Beermen with less than 30 seconds left.
"Naka-score siya sa akin (ng dalawang sunod). Pagod na kasi ako nu’n. Masakit na rin ng tuhod ko. Pero tiniis ko na lang,” shared Fajardo, visibly pleased with his clutch defensive stop which capped his dominant performance that also included a pair of assists and a block in nearly 45 minutes of action.
"Kailangan na talaga ilabas ang lahat. I mean, nilabas ko naman lahat nu’ng previous games pero ito na ‘yung last. Wala ng bukas sa finals so ayun,” he added.
The victory enabled Fajardo to formally hoist his first title in the pro league to add to the MVP he won last year and the Best Player of the Conference plum in the just-concluded All-Filipino tourney.
"Sobrang saya ko kasi nakuha ko na ang first championship ko. Ito ‘yung pinaka dream ko, makakuha ng championship,” beamed the Pinamungajan, Cebu. “Naging Best Player (of the Conference) na ako, tapos nag-champion pa. Sobrang blessed ko lang talaga."
Although the feeling of being a pro league champion has yet to fully sink in, Fajardo hopes this will only mark the beginning of what could be another San Miguel Beer dynasty as he stressed the need for the team to be more motivated collectively moving forward.
“Sana hindi pa rin kami makuntento. Nakakuha na kami ng isa pero pwede pa namin dagdagan ‘yun,” he noted. “Kailangan pa naming magtrabaho kasi wala namang madali. Lahat ng bagay kailangan paghirapan. Hindi naman ibibigay ni God 'yun kung wala kang gagawin."
