MANILA, Philippines – Even without its main man, San Miguel continues to run roughshod over its opponents in the PBA Governors’ Cup thanks in large part to the steady play of CJ Perez.

Perez earned the PBA Press Corps Player of the Week honors for the extended period of March 8 to 19 as he anchored a Beermen side missing injured star June Mar Fajardo all the way to the semifinals.

A contender for the Best Player of the Conference plum, Perez averaged 23 points, 10.3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3.3 steals in three straight wins, including a 121-105 romp of Converge that sent San Miguel to the final four.

In the first game without Fajardo, who is out with a knee injury, Perez churned out 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals in a 120-106 victory over NLEX.

Perez then delivered 20 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals in a 129-116 romp of Rain or Shine, which secured the second seed for the Beermen with a 9-2 record.

Starting the playoffs in style, the former top pick chalked up 26 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals against the FiberXers in the quarterfinals as San Miguel arranged a best-of-five semifinals clash with Barangay Ginebra.

Perez took over despite a rough stretch that saw him play for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the East Asian Super League Champions Week in Japan, and the PBA All-Star in Iloilo over the past three weeks.

He bested teammate Vic Manuel, TNT’s Roger Pogoy, and Ginebra’s Christian Standhardinger for the weekly honor being handed out by the group of print and online media regularly covering the PBA beat. – Rappler.com