MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel expects June Mar Fajardo to be back in the playoffs.

But the Beermen have to find a way to qualify for the quarterfinals first without their best player as the six-time PBA MVP is set to miss four weeks after he underwent a throat surgery.

San Miguel felt Fajardo’s absence on all fronts in a 113-87 blowout loss to Bay Area in the Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday, October 16, that dropped the defending champions to a 1-2 start.

“We’re hoping that in our next nine games, we can win at least 70% or 60% for us to get into the quarterfinals,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria in a mix of Filipino and English.

“And it will be a different story because June Mar, after four weeks – I think – will be okay. Come playoffs time, he’ll be okay.”

The Beermen sorely missed the all-around production of Fajardo, who averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals in their first two games.

His career derailed by a shin injury, Fajardo reclaimed his status as the most dominant player in the league when he led San Miguel to the Philippine Cup title with the Best Player of the Conference to boot last month.

But just as the Beermen were finding their bearings after a so-so start, Fajardo suffered a laryngeal fracture following an inadvertent elbow from import Steve Taylor Jr. in their 113-105 win over Rain or Shine last week.

“We’re not used to playing without June Mar, except when he got injured during the pandemic,” Austria said.

“After winning Best Player of the Conference, you all saw… he is a different June Mar. He could be a candidate again for MVP, but all of a sudden, an accident happened during a game.”

San Miguel faces a daunting task of compiling wins as it plays four more games before October ends – a stretch that would be crucial in its playoff bid.

Up next for the Beermen is Converge on October 21 then NLEX on October 23, NorthPort on October 26, and Meralco on October 29.

“Our morale dipped because of [the absence of] June Mar, but I keep on telling them that we have to fight back and we have to be positive because there’s nothing we can do with the loss of June Mar except to win,” Austria said. – Rappler.com