Fajardo asking teammates for help

Celebrated center June Mar Fajardo has been delivering the goods for San Miguel Beer in its redemption bid in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

However, the eight-time Most Valuable Player could only do so much.

The Beermen will need consistent production from the rest of the crew and not rely too much on their behemoth muscling his way inside if they want to return to the playoffs and avoid a repeat of an early vacation in the previous conference.

San Miguel saw its back-to-back win run snapped following a collapse from a 14-point advantage to fall prey to streaking Magnolia, 95-98, in overtime last Wednesday.

“All players must step up. You can’t just rely on one, two, three or five players. Everybody must step up. Whoever coach (Leo Austria) fields should step up,” Fajardo said after a sorry loss heading into the Holy Week break.

Fajardo scored six of the Beermen’s eight points in the extension of the match, where he struggled offensively.

The latest member of the PBA 50 Greatest Players has 17 points but shot only 35 percent (6-of-17) from the field.

Although five other Beermen had double-figure scoring, led by Juami Tiongson’s 17 points, it was only Rodney Brondial who chipped in on offense during overtime.

Overall, San Miguel shot 38 percent from the field.

“We missed a lot of shots. I also had a lot of misses. We’ll bounce back in our next game,” Fajardo said.

The Beermen were up by 14 in the third quarter but faded in the fourth when the Hotshots mounted a rally that tied it at 87. Fajardo had a chance to win it in regulation but missed a potential game-winning jumper over the outstretched hand of Magnolia big man Ian Sangalang.

Hotshots veteran guard Mark Barroca hit the finishing blows in the extra five minutes to keep his squad unbeaten.

“Credit to Magnolia, they played great. Mark (Barroca) made some crucial shots in the end,” Fajardo, an 11-time Best Player of the Conference, said.

It’s back to the drawing board for the Beermen as they prepare for another tough test on Friday against debuting Barangay Ginebra at the Smart Araneta Center.

“It’s still early in the conference. So, we still have a lot of adjustments to make and time to address our lapses,” Fajardo said.