MANILA – PBA Season 44 Most Valuable Player award contenders Jaymar Perez of Columbian Dyip, June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beermen and Jayson Castro of TNT KaTropa were among the rulers in key stats races.
Perez became another young star to win the scoring honors after San Miguel Beermen’s Terrence Romeo from 2015 to 2017 and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings’ Stanley Pringle in 2018.
The 6-foot-1 Perez, Dyip’s top overall pick during the 2018 PBA Rookie Draft, performed as a grizzled warrior and topped the scoring race with an average of 20.8 points per game.
Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters gunner Matthew Wright (18.89 ppg), Fajardo (18.87) and KaTropa’s Bobby Ray Parks were a close second, third and fourth, respectively, followed by Pringle at fifth (17.0).
Fajardo, meanwhile, easily dominated the rebounding category. He snared 13.0 caroms per game.
A far second was Magnolia Hotshots’ Ian Sangalang (8.5), followed by Meralco Bolts’ Raymond Almazan (8.0), NLEX Road Warriors’ John Paul Erram (7.8), and NorthPort Batang Pier’s Sean Anthony (7.6).
Castro was the barometer in dishing out assists with 6.1 per outing. Runners-up were Beermen’s Chris Ross (5.4), Kings’ Scottie Thompson (5.0), Hotshots’ Chris Banchero (4.89)m and Batang Pier’s Robert Bolick (4.88).
Aside from being among the tops in scoring and rebounding, Anthony also marked his rock-solid season with his season-best 2.4 steals per game, topping former steals champ Ross (2.2).
Then there’s the rise of Erram as the sultan of swats with 2.1 blocks per outing, outperforming Kings’ Japeth Aguilar (1.6), Fajardo (1.5), Almazan (1.3) and Beermen’s Arwind Santos (1.2).
The top guns from beyond the arc were Pringle (2.42), KaTropa’s Roger Pogoy (2.34), Dyip’s Rashawn McCarthy (2.3), Wright (2.24), Beermen’s Marcio Lassiter (2.17), Kings’ LA Tenorio (2.15), Parks (2.13), KaTropa’s Simon Enciso (2.083), KaTropa’s Jeth Troy Rosario (2.080), Bolts’ Baser Amer (2.07), and Hotshots’ Paul Lee (2.06).
In terms of percentage, the deadliest were Road Warriors’ Philip Paniamogan (40.8 percent), Beermen’s Von Pessumal (40.6 percent) and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ Rey Nambatac (40.2 percent), while top shooters from the free throw line were Amer (87.5), Tenorio (86.3) and Lee (85.9)./PN
