Center June Mar Fajardo during Gilas Pilipinas game against Hong Kong in the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—June Mar Fajardo received some harsh criticisms on Thursday after his subpar game for Gilas Pilipinas against New Zealand in the second window of the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers.
On Sunday night, he proved those criticisms to be just mere noise.
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Gilas defended home court for the second time in four days on Sunday after defeating Hong Kong, 93-54, at Mall of Asia Arena behind a stellar opening quarter that dictated the pace for the Nationals.
READ: ‘Dominant’ June Mar Fajardo expected for Gilas Fiba Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers
Much of Gilas’ first quarter blitz came from the efforts of Fajardo, who scored 10 points to give the Philippines a 25-16 lead at the end of the opening period.
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Fajardo would go on to finish with a near double-double of 14 points and eight rebounds built on a blistering 70 percent field goal shooting clip to send Gilas to an unblemished record after four games in the continental qualifiers.
When asked if comments about him after their game against New Zealand served as fuel for Sunday’s outing, Fajardo kept it simple and said they didn’t.
Center June Mar Fajardo during Gilas Pilipinas game against Hong Kong in the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Quite frankly, he couldn’t care less as long as he does his job for the country.
“Wala, ‘di ako nagbabasa ng mga comments na gano’n. Focus lang ako sa game (I don’t read comments like those anymore. I’m just focused on the game.),” said Fajardo in an interview with Inquirer Sports
READ: Tim Cone says 2024 is Gilas Pilipinas’ ‘trial year’
In Gilas’ Friday night victory against the Kiwis, 93-89, Fajardo played sparingly in just 17 minutes of action.
The eight-time PBA MVP obviously struggled with just six points, three rebounds with a -7 on the plus-minus side of the stat sheet.
“‘Di ako nagbabasa ng comments,” says June Mar Fajardo with @INQUIRERSports after bounce back game vs. Hong Kong. #GilasPilipinas pic.twitter.com/vK9YULPgee
— Rommel Fuertes Jr. (@MeloFuertesINQ) November 24, 2024
Following his mundane outing against New Zealand, netizens were quick to revive the conversation that the San Miguel star only being great at local play but not at the international level.
Instead of bragging about how his numbers may have silenced those comments, Fajardo was quick to credit his team for his tremendous bounce-back game.
He even went as far as to say he “just got lucky” with his points.
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“That was just [a result of] team game. I only got lucky to score that much but it’s really because of team effort,” Fajardo said.
“Of course, Kai (Sotto) was huge [for us]. He had a lot of rebounds and he also showed that we do team effort and we play a team game.”