By REYNALD MAGALLON
June Mar Fajardo showed up in uniform but didn’t see action in San Miguel Beer’s 132-110 win over Terrafirma on Sunday as he has yet to get a green light to play from his doctors.
The seven-time Most Valuable Player missed four weeks of action after sustaining a hand fracture. He was activated in the lineup ahead of the Dyip game but head coach Jorge Gallent opted to not field him in.
The veteran Beermen mentor, however, shared that Fajardo could play in SMB’s final game against the already eliminated Blackwater Bossing.
“June Mar is doing good, he’s recovering well, and I think if the doctor gives him the go-signal, I think he can play in our next game against Blackwater,” said Gallent after the game.
Fajardo’s return should be a welcome sight for the Beermen who are still looking to grab one of the three remaining twice-to-beat armors in the quarterfinals.
SMB is currently tied with Ginebra for fourth to fifth spots with 7-3 records and just a game behind Phoenix and Meralco which both have 7-2 slates.
The return of the 6-foot-10 slotman couldn’t come at a more perfect time as he could still get his feet wet and his groove back in their last game of eliminations before fully plunging back into action come playoffs.
With Fajardo’s return, SMB is close to its full strength with Jeron Teng also returning from a long layoff. Terrence Romeo, after nursing some injuries in the past few games, has been on leading the charge for the Beermen along with new addition Don Trollano and usual suspects Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross and Mo Tautuaa.
Import Bennie Boatwright seemed to have fully adjusted to the team as well evident on his 51-point explosion in the last game. The only dampener to the SMB’s big win was the foot injury to backup big man Rodney Brondial.
“If Rodney rests his foot and June Mar comes in, that’s very good for our team. At least June Mar is coming back. But I really don’t know about Rodney because I haven’t spoken to him. But in case he’s injured, I just hope it’s very minor,” said Gallent.
