The Kraken Effect

Here’s a question: “how many centers does it take to stop Junemar Fajardo?”

You know, the 6”10 Petron Blaze Boosters’ incoming sophomore center who ran roughshod against any and all defenses in the recently concluded 2013 PBA Governor’s Cup and expected to do even more damage the coming year? The kid who is being mentored by no less than 2x PBA MVP teammate and sure fire, first ballot Hall of Famer Danny Ildefonso?

All 10 PBA teams had this in mind going into the highly successful and entertaining 2013 PBA Draft, with most opting to fortify their frontlines first before adding talent of any kind. This is pretty much how a “project” big men like Isaac Holstein and Justin Chua went ahead of steadier and more accomplished names such as Nico Salva, Jeric Teng and Alex Nuyles among others.

Here we try to break down each team’s “Fajardo Stoppers” going into the 2013-2014 PBA Philippine Cup wherein the Cebuano giant is expected to further solidify his claim to big man greatness.


Air21 Express
Asi Taulava, 6"9/ Carlo Sharma 6"6
We see a great battle when Fajardo finally gets to lock horns with the veteran Taulava. This match-up already has a “big fight feel” to it despite the obvious mismatch ion overall personnel. Fajardo won’t be able to push Taulava in the early going, but his youth, speed and agility will play to his advantage late in games. Call it a “passing of the torch” from the last generation’s best center to the up-and-coming Cebuano big man.

Alaska Aces
Joachim Thoss, 6"7/ Nic Belasco, 6"6/ Samigue Eman, 6"9/ Paolo Bugia, 6"6/ Gabby Espinas, 6"4
For all intents and purposes, Thoss is still the “Best Center in the PBA” until maybe Fajardo is able to win a title for his team. Thoss is the modern day Danny Ildefonso (which is ironic because Ildefonso happens to be Fajardo’s teammate and Obi Wan Kinobi), able to muscle his way into the paint while possessing a sure ball jumpshot from any and all corners. Alaska has a slew a mobile bigs to help Thoss when things start to get out of hand, not to mention the guy who everyone hoped would turn out to be what Fajardo is today: Eman. Fortunately, the guy’s still young and has lots of time to learn the trade behind Thoss.

Barako Bull Energy Cola
Dorian Pena, 6"6/ Rico Maierhofer, 6"6/ Mark Isip, 6"4/ Dave Marcelo, 6"5/ Hans Paul Thiele, 6"5/ Gilbert Bulawan, 6"5/ Magi Sison, 6"7/ Elmer Espiritu, 6"4/ Mick Pennisi, 6"9
Okay. The first thing they need to do is clean house. The veterans such as Pennisi and Pena are locks and when healthy and alternating for one another, could disrupt Fajardo’s game. Pena is an immovable object on the block while Pennisi’s going to pull Fajardo out of his comfort zone. But, since wwe’re talking about guys over 35 here, they’ll eventually tire out, the other guys are either too thin or small and Barako’s going to get eaten alive by the man known as Kraken.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
Greg Slaughter, 7"0/ JayR Reyes, 6"7, John Usita, 6"7/ Japeth Aguilar, 6"9/ Billy Mamaril, 6”5
Things are going to get pretty interesting between Slaughter and Fajardo as they take their “rivalry” to the next level. Slaughter is taller and heavier, but Fajardo is quicker on his feet and bet money can do burpees faster than Slaughter (which is a basic skill but pretty big since it means that Fajardo can get to the ball/ on the floor faster). Though overall, we love how Ginebra added a skilled big like Reyes and an enforcer-type Usita to help out. Putting Aguilar on Fajardo would be interesting but only for a few minutes or just before Fajardo says “fukk this, I’m posting you up brah.”

GlobalPort Batang Pier
Jondan Salvador, 6"3/ Enrico Villanueva, 6"6/ Isaac Holstein, 6"8
Holstein’s going to get his lunch money stolen by Fajardo, but not before Villanueva and Salvador take turns tenderizing the nodules out of Fajardo’s kidney area. Expect Fajardo to be on the receiving end of a barrage of elbows, hard fouls, pushes and pretty much all the dirty tricks in the book. He’ll get his numbers, but if it’s physicality you want, you can always #countonjondan .

Meralco Bolts
Don Allado, 6"6/ Reynel Hugnatan, 6"4/ Kerby Raymundo, 6"6/ Rabeh Al-Hussaini, 6"7/ James Sena, 6"5/ Mark Bringas, 6”4
On offense, we love the Bolts’ bigs as they all have range and are highly skilled on the floor. On defense, Hugnatan’s the only guy who can maybe (and we say this very loosely) “limit” Fajardo on the floor. Money’s on Fajardo scoring on Al-Hussaini after a couple of bumps, with the former King Eagle looking at the refs wanting a foul or just plain giving up on the play.

Rain or Shine Elastopainters
Beau Belga, 6”6/ JayR Quinahan, 6”6/ Raymond Almazan, 6”8
We know that Belga and Quinahan are going to hit Fajardo, but we also know that the Petron star is quicker than both and can simply just go to his favored pivot, extend his arm and kiss the ball off the glass over his shorter, chubbier rivals for the easy deuce. It’s how Almazan plays Fajardo defensively that intrigues us. Almazan can’t stay with Fajardo in terms of out-muscling the latter in the paint, but he can definitely use his speed to front Fajardo or play defense from angles (much like what Marc Pingris did). For the Elastopainters to stand a chance against Fajardo, Almazan needs to learn all the tricks of the trade quick.

San Mig Coffee Mixers
Rafi Reavis, 6"8/ Jewel Ponferada, 6"5/ Marc Pingris, 6"4/ Jerwin Gaco, 6"3/ Ian Sangalang, 6"5/ Justin Chua, 6"6/ Yancy de Ocampo, 6"9
As long as Marc Pingris can stand on his own two feet and the calls go their way, Fajardo’s not going to decide games between the Mixers and the Boosters. The rest are there for fouls, but Pingris has Fajardo’s game studied. Only way for Fajardo to dominate is if and when he learns to pass out of the pivot because it will force Pingris to make better, in-game reads. It’s a lot “easier” to guard a great one on one player than a good one who can make great passes.

Talk’n’Text Tropang Texters
Rob Reyes, 6"5/ Ali Peek, 6"5/ Ranidel de Ocampo, 6"5/ Harvey Carey, 6"2
The Texters’ frontline is as blue collar as you can get in the PBA. Unfortunately, their only hope is that their guards are pesky enough to congest the post passes—pretty much preventing Fajardo from receiving the ball in the paint. When Fajardo does, well, it’s going to be a long night for the Texters for sure.

Which PBA player do you think can stop Fajardo going into next season?