MILAN — Columbian Dyip super rookie CJ Perez, San Miguel Beer ace behemoth June Mar Fajardo, and TNT KaTropa chief playmaker Jayson Castro were among the rulers in key stats races in PBA Season 44.
Perez emerged as the scoring champ; Fajardo was the rebounding king; while Castro beat all comers in the business of playmaking. So it is no wonder that they are among the contenders for the coveted season MVP plum, along with NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger.
Ginebra’s Stanley Pringle, NorthPort’s Sean Anthony, and NLEX’s Poy Erram also made marks in the season as champs in other key statistical departments.
Perez, the top draft selection from Lyceum U, performed like a grizzled warrior and topped the scoring race with an average of 20.8 points per game.
The 6-foot-1 slasher showed his scoring prowess even with Gilas Pilipinas in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. In his topnotch rookie year in the PBA, he became another young star to win the scoring honors after Terrence Romeo from 2015 to 2017, then Pringle in 2018.
Phoenix Pulse gunner Matthew Wright (18.89 ppg), Fajardo (18.87) and Bobby Ray Parks were a close second, third, and fourth, respectively, followed by Pringle in fifth (17.0). The next five were RR Pogoy (16.6), Anthony (16.4), Troy Rosario (15.3), Castro (15.2) then Ian Sangalang (15.1).
Fajardo, meanwhile, easily re-stamped his class in tending the boards, snaring 13.0 rebounds per game. A far second was Sangalang (8.5), followed by Raymond Almazan (8.0), Erram (7.8) and Anthony (7.6).
Castro was the barometer in dishing out assists with 6.1 per outing. Runners-up were Chris Ross (5.4), Scottie Thompson (5.0), Chris Banchero (4.89) and Robert Bolick (4.88).
Besides his presence among the tops in scoring and rebounding, Anthony also marked his rock-solid season with his season-best 2.4 steals per game, topping former steals champ Ross (2.2).
Photo from PBA Images
Then there’s the rise of Erram as the sultan of swats with 2.1 per outing, outperforming Japeth Aguilar (1.6), Fajardo (1.5), Almazan (1.3) and Arwind Santos (1.2).
The top guns from beyond the arc were Pringle (2.42), Pogoy (2.34), Rashawn McCarthy (2.3), Wright (2.24), Marcio Lassiter (2.17), LA Tenorio (2.15), Parks (2.13), Simon Enciso (2.083), Rosario (2.080), Baser Amer (2.07) and Paul Lee (2.06).
In terms of percentage, the deadliest were Philip Paniamogan (40.8 percent), Von Pessumal (40.6 percent) and Rey Nambatac (40.2 percent).
Top from the line was Amer (87.5), Tenorio (86.3) and Lee (85.9).
Pringle, Perez, and Parks were the most exposed as they all played at least 37 minutes per game.
The most error-prone were Wright (3.4), Fajardo (3.2), McCarthy (3.12), Moala Tautuaa (3.11) and Perez (3.0).
