Eyes on bigger prize: Fajardo, Beermen avoiding historic meltdown

San Miguel Beer star June Mar Fajardo reached a personal milestone when he claimed his 12th Best Player of the Conference award in the Philippine Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) recently.

He celebrated that golden moment with a pivotal Game 4 victory that pushed the Beermen to the cusp of annexing the all-Filipino crown at the expense of the grand slam-seeking TNT Tropang 5G.

Still, the eight-time Most Valuable Player was not in a festive mood. There’s still an important mission to accomplish as the defiant Tropang 5G remain standing in their grueling best-of-seven finals showdown.

“We’ve not won anything yet. We just need one more win,” the 6-foot-10 center said, adding that closing out the series is easier said than done.

That knockout punch could be delivered in Game 6, which is being played at press time at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City. If not, then they will troop back to the drawing board and play again in the same historic venue on Sunday to finish the job.

The Beermen have to do a solid job in their two remaining chances if they don’t want to get reduced to a mere footnote in the rich history of the Philippine Cup.

After all, crawling back from a deep 1-3 finals series deficit has been done before — twice, to be exact. San Miguel, if careless, could land on the wrong side of history as the third team to suffer a finals meltdown and squander a commanding series lead.

Shell lost to the Robert Jaworski-led Barangay Ginebra in the 1991 First Conference championship. The Beermen in the 2016 Philippine Cup made Alaska pay for getting too comfortable with a 3-0 lead as they completed the now famous “Beeracle.”

Messing up a golden opportunity to deliver the franchise’s 30th title overall and 11th in an all-Filipino contest would be a dampener for Fajardo.

But of course, it won’t diminish the fact that the Cebuano center is a generational talent, a dominating force the league has not seen since he was picked by the Beermen as top overall pick in the 2012 Draft.

The gentle giant, humble as always, was grateful for the recognitions that continue to go his way.

“I’m thankful. Of course, it’s a blessing. But I didn’t think about it,” the 35-year-old ace said.

“I told you, I’m just keeping it in my heart. My heart is just like a coffer. All the memories are there. But in my mind, I never thought about the awards.”

But then again, the biggest hardware of all this season is yet to be lifted by Fajardo.

After Game 5, San Miguel’s celebratory drinks remained inside the cooler.

Even unopened beer could still go stale over time.