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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Fajardo, SMB rue free throw woes in Game 1

Fajardo, SMB rue free throw woes in Game 1

Published Feb 3, 2024 10:27 am

At A Glance

  • SMB could have easily put the game away even when Magnolia tried to mount a comeback in the final frame if not for the crucial missed free throws that kept the door open for the Hotshots.

San Miguel is surely putting more focus on free throw drills in practice for the rest of the Finals.

june mar fajardo.jpg
June Mar Fajardo of the San Miguel Beermen (PBA Images)

That, after the Beermen’s shooting clip from the charity stripe became a suspect and was the lone blemish to what could have been a perfect performance against the Magnolia Hotshots in their 103-95 Game 1 triumph in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finale.

SMB could have easily put the game away even when Magnolia tried to mount a comeback in the final frame if not for the crucial missed free throws that kept the door open for the Hotshots.

Although not really known as a great free throw shooting team even in the eliminations after only averaging 69 percent from the line, missing a total of 17 free throws out of their 44 tries was simply inexcusable for San Miguel Beer main man June Mar Fajardo.

“Maaga kami bukas, magfi-free throw kami. Napagalitan nga kami ni coach (Jorge Gallent). Ang dami naming minintis. Ako lima ata yung minintis ko na free throw. Crucial kasi yung free throws eh kasi nagma-matter iyon sa end game,” said Fajardo, who struggled with a 3-of-7 clip from the line.

Aside from Fajardo, Jericho Cruz also stumbled with a 1-of-6 clip while CJ Perez and Jeron Teng had 5-of-8 and 2-of-4 shooting, respectively, from the free throw line. Import Bennie Boatwright had a more decent percentage with 10-of-13 clips but also had some crucial misses down the wire.

SMB head coach Jorge Gallent also pointed out his team’s inability to take advantage of the free throws especially with Magnolia's defense pulling all the stops to limit Fajardo and Boatwright attempts.

“We just relaxed in the last three minutes of the ball game and if we relaxed against Magnolia that’s what happens. Magnolia is just gonna take advantage of it and we were missing a lot of free throws that’s why they came back,” said Gallent.

While Fajardo knew full well how crucial for his team to take care of its free throws in the Finals, the nine-time PBA champion also stressed that it is equally important for the Beermen to quickly put the game behind and try to correct the mistakes in the next game.

“Basta nanalo kami ‘yun ‘yung importante. Sabi nga ni coach iyong panalo na ito, kumbaga itabi na namin ito. Focus na kami sa Game 2. For sure mag go hard sila, gusto nila mag bounce back kaya dapat ready kami doon,” added the Cebuano gentle giant.

Related Tags

San Miguel Beermen Magnolia Hotshots PBA Commissioner’s Cup
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