Tense battle set for ‘Best Player’ award
The battle for the Best Player of the Conference award in the PBA Governors’ Cup is headed for a curious finish.
This, as none of the Top Five players in the statistical race belongs to the finalists, Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.
San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo, Columbian Dyip’s CJ Perez, NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger, NLEX’s Kiefer Ravena, and TNT’s Jayson Castro topped the list at the end of the semifinals – and each player has a strong case for the award.
Fajardo, seeking his 9th BPC plum, narrowly topped the stats race with an average of 38.8 statistical points, built on averages of 19.3 points and 14.0 rebounds per game.
The rookie Perez tallied 37.2 stat points after averaging a league-best 23.2 points in the elimination round, along with 8.1 points and 3.5 rebounds. Meanwhile, Standhardinger compiled 35.1 SPs after also putting up a double-double of 17.6 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in the conference.
NLEX’s Ravena came in fourth place in his first conference back from a suspension, tallying 34.5 SPs with norms of 16 points, 7.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game. The veteran Castro rounded out the Top 5, putting up 31.6 SPs on 14.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Three Ginebra stalwarts: Stanley Pringle (30.8), Japeth Aguilar (29.9) and LA Tenorio (28) narrowly missed the Magic Five together with TNT’s RR Pogoy (30.4) and Meralco’s Chris Newsome (29.8).
Tied with Tenorio at 10th spot was Magnolia’s Ian Sangalang (28) then came another rookie in Bobby Ray Parks (27.5), followed by Raymond Almazan (27.4), Jeth Troy Rosario (27) and Matthew Wright (26.8) to round out the Top 15.
Meanwhile, two-time Best Import Allen Durham and one-time winner Justin Brownlee are once again contesting the award for the reinforcements.
With outside chances for Best Import honors are TNT’s KJ McDaniels and NorthPort’s Michael Qualls.
The race will likely go down to Brownlee or Durham, however, after the two players led their respective teams to the finals of the conference.
Brownlee collected 57.2 SPs, averaging 29 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 7.2 assists for Ginebra. Durham, meanwhile, averaged 56.9 SPs with norms of 30.9 points, 15.2 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game. (news.abs-cbn.com)
