(CNN Philippines) — Normally, San Miguel Beer star June Mar Fajardo, the most dominant big man in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) today, has the league teetering on its heels.
But that wasn’t the case for the reigning Most Valuable Player on Wednesday (May 6).
The 6-foot-10 giant was actually a dud when his team went up against the KIA Carnival who were led by a much taller cager in import Hamady N’Diaye at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Beermen suffered a 78-83 loss to the Carnival, who now have good news to tell head coach Manny Pacquiao when he comes home this week from Los Angeles.
Pacquiao succumbed to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their megabout Sunday (May 3).
Read: KIA repulses San Miguel Beer, 83-78
The Cebu native finished with only 11 points on a putrid 27-percent shooting from the field, a far cry from his usual monstrous output.
And what was the reason behind his subpar performance?
“Nailang ako (kay N’Diaye),” Fajardo admitted shortly after San Miguel Beer’s second loss to the Carnival.
Fajardo tried to plow through some rough stretches but ended up getting frustrated with N’Diaye’s defense.
It turned out, clamping down on defense was KIA’s gameplan.
“We want to be the no. 1 defensive team,” said KIA assistant coach Chito Victolero, whose team continued to live up to its “giant slayer” tag after beating some of the top teams in the Commissioner’s Cup behind 7-4 PJ Ramos.
“I challenged everyone to give his best on defense.”
And the Senegalese reinforcement responded to the call. N’Diaye scattered 21 points on top of two steals and four blocks.
“Yung import namin (N’Diaye) is a big factor on defense,” added Victolero.
