Silver lining for Fajardo amid Gilas woes

FOSHAN, China – June Mar Fajardo emerged as the biggest winner in Gilas Pilipinas’ embarrassing 59-point loss to Serbia in the FIBA Basketball World Cup here.

Fajardo said he gained a lot of confidence following his matchup with Serbian giants Nikola Jokic and Boban Marjanovic in their first-round battle last Monday at the GBA International Sports and Cultural Center here.

It wasn’t Fajardo’s first taste of international play.

In fact, he was also part of the Gilas squad that saw action in the World Cup in Spain in 2014, where he clashed with quality international big men like Luis Scola of Argentina, Ante Tomic of Croatia, Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece and Gorgui Deng of Senegal.

Since then, he transformed into one of the country’s most important players, winning a record five consecutive Most Valuable Player titles in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Now that he’s tapped to play in the world stage anew, he wasted no time in studying his foes to further boost his performance.

“I’m happy that I was able to play with them,” said Fajardo, who started to bang bodies with Jokic as soon as the Denver Nuggets big man was fielded in the 6:24 mark of the first period.

“It’s a good experience for the team and to my career, personally. I’m glad that I was given the chance to play against them.”

In particular, Fajardo was in awe of Marjanovic.

The 7-foot-3 slotman of the Dallas Mavericks delivered a masterclass right in front of the gentle giant from Cebu. At one point, he swished in a jumper from 30 feet and displayed his flawless footwork at the post with Fajardo manning the defense.

“He’s so big. He’s also so heavy; I think about 30 pounds heavier than me,” Fajardo said.

“I just used to watch him on television, but now, I had the chance to play against him. It was really a good experience.”

And it’s something he can narrate to his children and grandchildren over and over again.