WITH June Mar Fajardo out with an injury, CJ Perez rose to the occasion and guided the team to the semifinals of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
The Pangasinan native took the leadership baton and anchored a pair of big wins by the Beermen bridging the tail end of the eliminations and the start of the PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs.
Perez lifted the second-seeded Beermen to a 3-0 week, highlighted by a convincing 121-105 win over No. 7 Converge in their quarterfinal battle last Sunday.
The Gilas Pilipinas guard posted all-around averages of 23.0 points on a 55-percent clip, 10.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 3.3 steals in three matches, numbers solid enough to earn him the Cignal Play-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for March 8 and 15-19.
Perez had 26 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and five steals as the twice-to-beat SMB made short work of Converge in the quarterfinals to arrange a Final Four duel with sibling rival and reigning champion Ginebra.
Before that, the former NCAA MVP out of Lyceum flashed his brilliant form in the Beermen’s last two elimination round assignments against NLEX and Rain or Shine to lock in the No. 2 seed.
Perez, the top overall pick in the 2018 draft, had 23 markers, seven boards, four assists, and two steals in the team’s 120-106 victory over NLEX last Wednesday.
The Beermen plunged into action anew last Friday and Perez unloaded 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and three steals in a 129-116 demolition of Rain or Shine.
Perez did it despite a busy stretch playing for Gilas in the last window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week in Japan, and the PBA All-Stars in Iloilo last weekend.
Perez beat his San Miguel teammate, Vic Manuel, Roger Pogoy of TNT, and Christian Standhardinger of Barangay Ginebra for the weekly honor.
