Fajardo ‘nervous’ ahead of Bates duel

Even seasoned players like the decorated San Miguel Beer center June Mar Fajardo couldn’t help but feel the pressure of marching to the biggest stage of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

Despite appearing in his 13th championship for the league’s winningest franchise, Fajardo admitted to feeling jittery in the grand slam-seeking Beermen’s first-ever finals meeting against a talented and formidable Meralco Bolts.

The seven-time Most Valuable Player mentioned his coming matchup against Bolts rookie big man Brandon Bates in the best-of-seven series firing off today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum as a big challenge.

“The kid has great potential. He goes hard every time which is really great about him,” the frontrunner for the season-ending tournament’s Best Player of the Conference award said.

Fajardo’s worries are valid.

The young center has been a vital cog for Meralco’s defense during the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Bates’ made his presence felt in the semifinals series against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, doing a great job bodying up against the Kings’ main gunner forwards Christian Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar.

He even hosted a block party in the deciding Game 7 after swatting away six shots on top of his 13 rebounds and six points to help the Bolts walk away with a 78-69 win in San Jose, Batangas last Friday for their breakthrough all-Filipino conference finals and fifth title series stint overall since joining the league in 2010.

‘The kid has great potential. He goes hard every time which is really great about him.’

“Of course, I’m a bit nervous. Brandon has been playing really well, especially during their Game 7 (against Ginebra), where he got six blocks,” Fajardo said.

Bates’ six blocks equaled the most for this season after Fajardo had the same in Game 2 of San Miguel’s best-of-five semis series against Ginebra in the Commissioner’s Cup.

However, Fajardo bested Bates in their elimination round meeting albeit the Beermen suffered a 92-95 loss denying them a rare elimination sweep.

Fajardo bullied his way to 23 points anchored on 15-of-19 free throw shooting while Bates got into early foul trouble and only spent 14 minutes in the game.

Aside from Bates, Fajardo will also have to get through veteran center Raymond Almazan as well as hardworking forward Cliff Hodge to get his usual numbers.

“Raymond, he’s my buddy. Gugulpihin ko yun, joke lang. Kidding aside, you cannot underestimate Raymond. He has a high percentage shooting three points, he has a good perimeter shooting and he’s tall. He can defend well aside from scoring,” Fajardo said of his former national squad teammate.

But while Meralco is looking to give extra attention to slowing down if not stopping Fajardo, the San Miguel star believes the Bolts will also plot ways to clamp down the other Beermen.

“I don’t think I’m the focal point of their defense. San Miguel has a lot of scorers. Everyone that coach fields can score,” he said.