San Miguel lost the game and its best player to injury.
June Mar Fajardo checked in with under six minutes remaining in the opening period of the San Miguel Beermen’s EASL Champions Week debut against the Ryukyu Golden Kings on Thursday.
Several seconds later, the six-time PBA MVP hurt his left knee and never saw action from there as the Beermen absorbed a 96-68 drubbing at the hands of the Golden Kings at the Nikkan Arena in Utsunomiya, Japan.
Beermen coach Jorge Gallent said nothing’s clear right now as far as Fajardo’s status is concerned.
“The status of June Mar, I don't know. But I heard when we go back to Manila, we’re gonna get an MRI,” he said.
Fajardo's absence definitely hurt the Beermen, who were outrebounded by the Golden Kings, 52-33, led by former Meralco Bolts import Allen Durham and big man Jack Cooley.
“June Mar is a good presence inside. He’s a good rebounder. That's the main thing. We’re outrebounded and that really hurt us,” said Gallent, who is hopeful the injury is nothing serious.
“I’m not saying he’ll get all of the boards, but if June Mar was there, I think he would have helped us more getting the defensive boards.”
Apart from that, Gallent said the Beermen uncharacteristically played selfish basketball in the early goings. The Golden Kings made them pay and outscored San Miguel, 25-11, in the first quarter.
“Well, we just started flat. We’re not sharing the ball. We’re not defending well. We took the game to ourselves instead of playing as a team,” he said.
“In the second half, we played much better. We rotated the ball well. I just hope we play better in our next game.”
San Miguel's next game is on Saturday, March 4, and they will take on the Anyang KGC, who clobbered the Taipei Fubon Braves in their own EASL Champions Week debut. Incidentally, Anyang, like Ryukyu, is parading an Asian import in high-flying Filipino Rhenz Abando, who scored 11 points in the KGC's opening day win.