June Mar Fajardo prepares for one final obstacle to San Miguel's quest for a fourth consecutive PBA Philippine Cup crown after hurdling the difficult challenge of beating crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the semi-finals.
Though the series ended with a 4-1 victory, the Beermen had to win the hard way, particularly in Saturday's fifth game at the Cuneta Astrodome where they overcame a double-digit deficit before surviving the Kings rally in the fourth quarter to reach their familiar destination.
But Fajardo stressed that the Ginebra series could be a prelude to a more-difficult climb towards another title, with the Beermen facing either the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok or NLEX Road Warriors in the best-of-seven finals.
"Hindi naman madali ang makapasok sa finals e," said Fajardo, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. "Hindi porket San Miguel kami, hindi porket nanalo kami ng tatlong championships sa All-Filipino e parang bibigay nila yung panalo sa amin. Kukunin namin ang panalo sa kanila."
Magnolia and NLEX are tied at 2-2 heading into Sunday's Game 5 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. The longer that series goes, the better may be for the Beermen who are badly needing the break.
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Chris Ross played limited minutes in the last three games of the series due to a strained right thigh while Alex Cabagnot endured severe sickness to seal San Miguel's win in Game 5 with two key baskets in the final three minutes.
"Malaking bagay yung pahinga sa amin," Fajardo said. "Hindi naman ganung kadali yung series namin (against Ginebra), nakakapagod. Kailangan gamitin ng maayos ang pahinga namin at makapag-praktis ng maayos para maging ready yung katawan namin."
San Miguel will attempt to win the title for the sixth time since coach Leo Austria took charge in 2014. For Fajardo, getting another championship would be as hard as the previous ones.
"Basta kami gagawin naming lahat para manalo. Hindi madali yun kaya kailangan naming magsakripisyo para dun," he said. (JT)
