For the third time in the last five seasons, a pair of Ginebra stars swept the top individual honors of a conference after RJ Abarrientos and Justin Brownlee were hailed as the best performers of the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.
The former Asian import earned his first Best Player of the Conference title, while the naturalized winger earned his fourth Best Import plum as the Kings were crowned before Game 4 of the Finals at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
It was a coronation waiting to happen, especially for the 26-year-old, who became the clear-cut winner after a remarkable semis against Rain or Shine.
There, he averaged 22.0 points on 49.7-percent shooting from the field, 3.67 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.5 steals, as he proved himself the difference that helped the traditional contenders finish it off in six.
Abarrientos scored 30-plus in the last two games to send the Elasto Painters packing. First was a 31-point showing in Game 5 to star in their 111-104 victory, before he dropped 30 in their 118-107 clincher to formally enter the Finals.
By semis’ end, the former KBL and B.League campaigner stayed at third in the statistical points race with 37.2 to his name, sitting behind early favorite Robert Bolick and June Mar Fajardo, whose cases took a hit after quarterfinals exits.
The FEU product amassed 1,147 points from stats and votes from media and players, winning big against the NLEX star (804) and the nine-time MVP (573). He also bested Ricci Rivero of Phoenix (431) and Jerrick Ahanmisi (421).
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With this, he now has a BPC award just like his uncle Johnny, although he won it faster. The Gilas Pilipinas playmaker got his in only his sophomore season in the league — the ‘Flying A’ didn’t win his first of two until his fourth season.
Brownlee, on the other hand, has become the oldest to win Best Import at 38. He has also climbed to second for most after the late, great Bobby Parks, Sr., who has seven — the reason why the award was named after him.
Currently tied with current FEU head coach Sean Chambers for having the most league championships with six, ‘JB’ got the nod after a solid semis run as well, in which he bested a strong candidate in Jaylen Johnson.
Johnson had himself a good case as well, not just because of his numbers but for playing a crucial role in RoS’ impressive start. He even strengthened his bid after dropping 40 points and 19 rebounds in their Game 1 win.
However, the former teammate of Kevin Quiambao in the KBL struggled to stay consistent. He was never able to replicate that outing, while Brownlee went on to deliver big performances to help lead Ginebra back to the Finals.
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Brownlee beat not just Johnson but also Tropang 5G import Chris McCullough and Patrick Gardner of Meralco for the plaque. The other two became the eligible candidates after Bol Bol and Marvin Jones got disqualified.
Bol fell down with an Achilles injury that prompted the defending champs to make the switch. On the other hand, Jones got sacked by the Bolts after underdelivering in Game 3, where TNT played with an all-Filipino lineup.
Brownlee finished the semis as the SPs race leader among reinforcements with 50.5, boosted by his production in the semis in which he posted per-game norms of 29.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.67 steals, and 1.3 blocks.
He garnered a total 1,284 points from stats and votes from the media and players, besting Johnson (888), McCullough (690), and Gardner (534).
