San Miguel stars June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez kept their hold of the top two spots in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference race.
The league’s only six-time MVP remained no. 1 in the standings with 42.7 statistical points, while the former Rookie of the Year is at second with 39.7 SPs according to the latest stats released at the end of the quarterfinals.
Fajardo, 32, is averaging 17.9 points, a league-best 13.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game as he led the top-seeded Beermen past no. 8 Blackwater in convincing fashion to reach the best-of-7 semis.
Perez, on the other hand, has posted norms of 17.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 2.4 steals to give the Cebuano star a challenge for the award currently being held by Magnolia star forward Calvin Abueva.
Meanwhile, the Ginebra trio of Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, and Christian Standhardinger occupy the next three spots to round out the Top Five.
Thompson, the reigning MVP, is at third with 37.8 SPs to his name, followed by Aguilar (33.1) and then Standhardinger (32.8).
Unfortunately, the Kings’ failure to go deeper in the playoffs has hurt their chances of winning the BPC title. The crowd darlings got eliminated by rivals Meralco in the best-of-three quarters that went the distance.
The Northport tandem of Robert Bolick and Jamie Malonzo also remained in the running even if the Batang Pier missed the playoffs. The former is at no. 6 with 32.63 SPs, while the latter is behind him with 32.60 SPs.
Making a late case for the award is Meralco main man Chris Newsome, who jumped three notches in the rankings to reach no. 8 with 32.5 SPs, built around his numbers of 16.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.6 assists.
The Fil-Am guard is actually sharing the said spot with Jio Jalalon, who fell from no. 5. The Hotshots guard also has 32.5 SPs.
NLEX sophomore Calvin Oftana, lastly, rounded up the Top 10 with 32.4 SPs as he averaged 17.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 steals.
Meanwhile, the list of the top rookies is still being led by Bossing forward Ato Ular with 27.1 SPs thanks mainly to his norms of 14.2 points and 8.4 rebounds.
The Letran product is followed by Converge big man Justin Arana (21.5 SPs), NorthPort’s JM Calma (19.1 SPs), Phoenix Super LPG shooter Tyler Tio (18.2 SPs), and another FiberXer in Jeo Ambohot (17.9 SPs).
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