Christian Standhardinger has overtaken June Mar Fajardo in the race for the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference (BPC) title.
The Ginebra bruiser is now at the no. 1 spot after tallying an average of 38.0 statistical points (SPs) at the end of the eliminations last Sunday.
He registered impressive numbers of 17.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 11 games with the third-seeded Kings.
Standhardinger was running second behind the San Miguel main man in the BPC race halfway through the eliminations.
However, the metacarpal fracture Fajardo suffered that kept him out of action for six weeks left the league’s reigning seven-time MVP out of the running in the latest statistical race released by the league on Tuesday.
SMB teammate CJ Perez and young stars Calvin Oftana of TNT and NorthPort lead guy Arvin Tolentino are left to crowd out Standhardinger for the plum.
Perez is second with 35.2 SPs (16.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists), followed closely by Tolentino with 35.1 SPs (a conference-best 22.4 points and 5.7 rebounds), and Oftana with 35.0 SPs (21.9 points and 6.6 rebounds).
One-time league MVP Scottie Thompson completed the Top 5 list with 32.5 SPs behind norms of 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 7.6 assists.
Another ka-Barangay, a backcourt pair from Magnolia, and one each from Meralco and Phoenix Super LPG round out the Top 10 race.
Maverick Ahanmisi also contends for the award right in his first season as a Gin King. He’s at sixth with 31.3 SPs (14.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists).
The versatile combo guard is followed by the Hotshots playmakers Jio Jalalon (12.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.5 assists), and Mark Barroca (13.8 points and 5.1 assists) with 31.2 and 29.2 SPs, respectively.
Chris Newsome (13.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists) of the Bolts occupies the ninth spot with 28.4 SPs, and at no. 10 is Jason Perkins (13.2 points, 6.2 rebounds) of the Fuel Masters with 27.33 SPs.
Meanwhile, the battle for the conference’s Best Import award appears to be an interesting one as a pair of replacements are showing the way.
Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson of TNT is at no. 1 with 67.5 SPs in just two games after taking over from his brother Rondae. He leads the imports in scoring with 42.5 points, while adding 12.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.5 steals.
The Beermen’s Bennie Boatwright, who filled in the shoes of Ivan Aska, is breathing down the neck of Hollis-Jefferson at second place with 67.3 SPs behind averages of 40.3 points and 13.3 rebounds.
Another replacement in Shonn Miller (27.0 points and 17.3 rebounds) of Meralco is in third place with 55.0 SPs, followed by Johnathan Williams (27.0 points, 15. 6 rebounds, and 5.5 assists) of Phoenix with 53.6 SPs.
