BARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel’s exit in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup may have cleared the way for a two-player race for the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award between San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo and Alaska’s Calvin Abueva.
But don’t count Paul Lee out. Rain or Shine’s heady point guard could emerge as the darkhorse for the conference’s top individual honor.
Fajardo, the reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP), continues to lead the BPC derby with 41.2 statistical points (SPs) average, while Abueva, who beat the Beermen center for the Rookie of the Year honor two seasons ago, was at No. 2 with 38.5 SPs.
The Kings’ big man Greg Slaughter is enjoying his best conference yet, as the former Ateneo center is at No. 3 with 35.0 SPs. But Ginebra was eliminated by Talk ‘N Text in the quarterfinals, dashing the hope of the 7-foot sophomore center.
With the Beermen and the Aces in the semifinals of the Philippine Cup, Fajardo and Abueva could make it a two-way race—although shadowing them is Lee, who is at No. 9 with 29.4 SPs. Lee could jump to the top 5 if he piles up more SPs in the Elasto Painters’ semifinals duel with the Aces.
For Rain or Shine Head Coach Yeng Guiao, Lee deserves to be in the equation for the BPC race.
“He certainly deserves to be considered for the Best Player of the Conference race,” Guiao told the BusinessMirror.
“Even if our system does not highlight individual performances, he [Lee] still is able to dish out outstanding performances. In terms of efficiency and consistency, Paul is arguably one of the best in the league,” Guiao added. “Among the top BPC contenders, he plays the least minutes.”
Lee is averaging 15.25 points—ninth in the league—but his leadership and consistency helped Rain or Shine grab the No. 2 seed and the automatic semifinal seat.
The top 5 in the SPs after the semifinal stage will be automatic candidates for the BPC award.
San Miguel’s Arwind Santos is at No. 4 with 33.0 SPs, while Meralco’s Cliff Hodge is fifth with 33.0 SPs. Like Slaughter, Hodge could be out of the race as his Bolts were also eliminated.
In the top 10 are San Miguel’s new recruit Alex Cabagnot (30.7), Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar (30.5), Asi Taulava (30.2) of NLEX and Jayson Castro (28.8) of the Tropang Texters.
Joel Orellana