During San Miguel’s playoff run this conference, June Mar Fajardo has faced the likes of Jameel McKay, 6-foot-9 and 212 pounds, and Ricardo Ratliffe, 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds.
Both imports though are dwarfed by the sheer enormity of TNT Katropa import Joshua Smith who stands at 6-foot-10 and weighs 330 pounds. And the 6-foot-11, 270-pound Cebuano got a first hand look of how heavy yet agile Smith is.
“Sobrang laki at bigat niya,” the reigning league MVP shared. “Yung hook shot niya magaling din e.
“Siguro, siya na ang pinakamabigat [na import I faced], kita naman e sobrang bigat niya.”
Smith also showcased his deceiving athleticism in Game One of the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup Finals as he knocked down the game-winner with 1.6 seconds left that gave TNT Game One, 104-102. And it was against none other than Fajardo himself.
“Napasok niya e. Para sa kanila talaga yung game,” Fajardo, who finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks, recalled about that moment.
According to San Miguel head coach Leo Austria, his team had little time to prepare for Smith as they only knew that TNT’s hulking big man was cleared to play in Game One 30 hours prior to the game.
“It was really hard to prepare against TNT especially before this game because we did not know who was going to play for them,” the four-time champion mentor said.
But now that San Miguel are certain that Smith will play in Game Two, they are now devising a way to at least contain TNT’s reinforcement in spurts.
“I’m sure next game, it is already Smith and we have to devise some kind of defense to limit him,” Austria opined.
“Siguro (double team) at magproprovide ng help pero tignan natin ano gusto ni coach,” Fajardo added.
