JMF raises PBA bar

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Beer assistant coach Peter Martin is convinced that the reason why bigs are paid a premium in the PBA is because of June Mar Fajardo as every team needs an antidote to neutralize the Kraken. In the ongoing Philippine Cup Finals, TNT has its hands full covering the nine-time MVP, rotating Kelly Williams, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Poy Erram and Henry Galinato to defend him.

“So far, it’s been single coverage on June Mar so Mo Tautuaa is able to go one-on-one,” said Martin. “But we expect adjustments. TNT is a technical team and you just can’t outwork them. The PBA is evolving. Before, in the last three minutes, we’d let our Death Five take over. Now, teams use different schemes so it’s not that easy anymore. This is a tough and difficult series.”

Martin said in Game 3, coach Leo Austria tweaked his starting lineup by opening with Jericho Cruz instead of Marcio Lassiter. “It worked in the first quarter where we led, 33-16 but in the second quarter, we faltered with our second group because we changed our sub pattern,” he said. “We made a conscious effort to attack the rim but in the end, CJ Perez took the big shot. We were down by three with less than a minute left. We didn’t expect the switch off the ballscreen and CJ looked at the line then stepped back to hit the four. CJ shot a three on our next possession off Calvin Oftana and that was it.”