Alaska and their giant June Mar Fajardo problem

MANILA, Philippines – To say that the Alaska Aces will have their hands full in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup finals is an understatement. And to say they will have to overcome the tallest of mountains is quite as literal as it sounds.

Alaska’s biggest problem heading into their best-of-7 finals affair with the San Miguel Beermen can be personified in 6-foot-10 reigning PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo.

“June Mar has been one of the most dominant players in the league since he came in,” remarked Alaska head coach Alex Compton, who is coaching in a PBA finals for the first time in his career.

“We still have to figure out a way to stop him. As good as June Mar is, they’re also playing as a team, they’re playing defensively, and they’re surrounded by really good players.”

Fajardo, 25 and playing on his third year in the league, has been the bane of every team this conference. He returned this season armed with an all new confidence stemming from his MVP award and his promising performance with the national team at the FIBA World Cup.

Throughout the Philippine Cup, Fajardo’s threat level significantly rose, evidenced by how teams abandoned double teaming tactics and simply threw 3 people at him each time he held the ball close to the ring.

“I would imagine we’d probably have to throw the whole team at June Mar, but then you’ll have to worry about Arwind (Santos), Marcio (Lassiter), and Alex (Cabagnot) and Chris (Lutz) and everybody,” said a worried Compton on Monday, January 5 during a press conference at Sambo Kojin restaurant in Eastwood City, Libis.

“We’ll try to come up with a bunch of different strategies to try and stop them.”

From the players to the coaches, all everyone talked about was Fajardo and his dominance. And they had good reason to.

Fajardo has not scored below 10 points for every game so far this conference. Even in what appeared to be an off-night for him in the semis against Talk ’N Text, he still went 11-of-11 from the free throw line and finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

His season average so far from the elimination round up to the semis is 19.2 points per game and 12.4 rebounds per game. He even extended his range this season and began taking and knocking down more mid-range jumpers.

Even more bad news for the Aces is the fact that Fajardo is not the only threat they need to address.

Fajardo is surrounded by deadly shooters, including guys like Marcio Lassiter, newly acquired Alex Cabagnot, Chris Lutz, Jeric Fortuna, and even 2013 PBA MVP Arwind Santos, who also likes to drive strong to the hoop.

“Obviously they have the last two MVPs on their team and they’re surrounded by great shooters and are committed to play as a team,” Compton explained. “So you have to find a way defensively to not let them get a lot of easy baskets. But we still have to find a way, I don’t have the answer yet.”

The task at hand is daunting enough that Compton hasn’t wrapped his mind around any edge his team may have over top-seeded San Miguel.

“I’m still trying to figure out the edge. They play so much as a team, and I think some of our strengths are also their strengths, but mas lamang sila sa strengths (but they have more strengths). I’m still not sure what the edge is so hopefully I’ll figure that out so we can try to highlight it.”

Austria, who is also about to experience his first PBA finals, admits it’s a balancing act for him as a coach. He understands his greatest asset, but he also knows full well he has plenty more he can rely on.

“Our advantage really, I keep on saying, is we have June Mar Fajardo,” he said.

“It’s really true that our strength is June Mar Fajardo, but the strength of June Mar Fajardo is the team.”

This means Austria must ensure his entire team’s mindset is in a good place. They have to be willing to sacrifice for a bigger purpose and commit to helping each other on the court.

“This is a team sport so we have to play as a team. June Mar cannot win a championship by himself alone. It’s a team effort from the ball boy up to the top management. I think that’s what’s important.”

Since taking over for the Beermen this season, he turned a reeling and underachieving team into legitimate contenders by building around Fajardo and working from there.

San Miguel is most dangerous when they are able to space the floor with Fajardo manning the post. The idea is to complement the big man with shooters so everyone is a threat.

“We all know that every time June Mar has the ball in the shaded area, hindi lang double team yan, triple teaming pa (they won’t just double team him, they’ll even triple team him),” Austria said. “But if he’s surrounded by a lot of shooters, especially from the point guard, then it would help the team.”

Calvin Abueva has done a great job this conference being Calvin Abueva. He is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds a game dating back to the elimination round. His energy tank continues to be bottomless and it doesn’t seem like he has any plans of stopping now that another title is within reach.

“Pag sinabi mo naman talagang Alaska ang unang maaalala mo ay si Calvin Abueva dahil alam naman natin he’s The Beast. Hindi siya tatawaging The Beast kung wala siyang ipapakita. And it’s very obvious in the series against Rain or Shine that he’s the X-factor,” Austria admitted how Abueva changes the game for Alaska.

(When you say Alaska the first thing you’ll recall is Calvin Abueva. We know he’s The Beast. He will not be call The Beast if he didn’t have anything to show.)

Abueva is not the last of San Miguel’s worries as well. Austria believes the bigger problem lies in the quiet but effective work of guard JVee Casio.

“I think hindi lang si Abueva ang dapat paghandaan dahil ang mga intangibles ay makikita natin kay JVee Casio,” he said. “Without Casio, this team will not perform well. Hindi lang nakikita pero (Nobody notices but) for me he’s one of the best point guards in the league.”

(I think it’s not just Abueva that we have to worry about because the intangibles come from JVee Casio.)

Although many deem the Aces as underdogs in this series and the Beermen with the upperhand, Austria smartly chooses not to be complacent.

He knows just how suffocating Alaska’s defense can get. They don’t even have to ask Rain or Shine to know, they just need to remember a sorry 66-63 loss in the elimination round, where Fajardo was limited to his conference low 10 points.

“They beat us in our first game and I think they have no problems with us. It’s our problem how to beat them. We all know this team is running very well just like a well-oiled machine and their cohesiveness is there, and that’s the reason they keep on winning,” Austria explained.

“And hindi lang napapansin ng iba but their defense is really different. From start to finish alam natin yung pressure defense nila.” (Others just don’t notice it but their defense is really different. From start to finish they have their pressure defense.)

And what about Abueva clashing with Fajardo, whom he bested for the 2013 Rookie of the Year plum? Will this series become a personal battle for them?

“Sa akin hindi na eh kasi ibang level na ‘to eh,” Abueva said when asked if he still worries about individual awards.

“And pang-third year na namin ito, and sa third year namin sa first all-Filipino championship nagkatapat pa kami. Ito pa yung championship na hinahangad namin. Ang gagawin ko na lang is protect my team and magbigay ng energy.”

(For me I don’t think about that anymore because this is a different level now. This is our third year already, and on our third year we find ourselves matched up for the all-Filipino title. This is the championship that we really want. I’m just going to protect my team and provide the energy.)

“Sa kanya na yung BPC (Best Player of the Conference), sa akin na yung championship,” Fajardo said in jest. (He can have the BPC award, I can have the championship.) – Rappler.com