Unless someone else goes berserk in the semis, the Governors' Cup BPC will be either of these two.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel big man Christian Standhardinger has been on an absolute tear since fellow big Japeth Aguilar went down with a knee injury early in the eliminations.
It is no surprise then that CStan is the frontrunner for the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award, finishing the eliminations with an average of 42.8 statistical points (SPs) on per game averages of 22.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 0.7 steals. That is despite the Fil-German missing two games early in the eliminations due to an iffy right knee.
Those two missed games could have given Standhardinger a bigger lead over second-placer Cjay Perez of the San Miguel Beermen, who finished the eliminations with an average of 39.3 SPs on per game averages of 20.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.5 steals. But, unlike CStan, The Predator played all of San Miguel’s 11 games, leading the team to a second place finish in the standings and the twice-to-beat luxury that goes along with it.
With Standhardinger and Perez almost neck-and-neck in terms of SPs, it likely means the upcoming San Miguel vs. Ginebra semis showdown will have massive BPC implications. Put simply, the Governors’ Cup BPC will probably come from the team that wins said series—CStan should Ginebra prevail, Perez if San Miguel makes it.
Check out the top performers of the Governors' Cup in terms of numbers:
In the race for the Governors’ Cup BPC as well are Calvin Oftana and RR Pogoy of the TNT Tropang Giga, who finished the eliminations with averages of 36.1 and 35.8 SPs, respectively. Oftana averaged 13.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game, while Pogoy posted 20.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 steals.
June Mar Fajardo, who is shooting for a mind-boggling seventh MVP this season, wound up third in the SPs leaderboard with an average of 37.6, but he is likely out of the running for the BPC due to his season-ending knee injury. Scottie Thompson, the reigning Governors’ Cup BPC, finished 11th with 31.6 SPs—tied with NLEX Road Warriors rookie Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser—and is probably too far off already.
So, for now, the BPC race has come down to Standhardinger and Perez. Should CStan win, it would be the second BPC of his career and first with Ginebra. In case Perez gets the nod, it will be his first ever—and likely not the last.