MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on my Mind) - When international basketball fans are asked about their favorite Filipino player, it should not come as a surprise for names like Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo and Andray Blatche to come up. They have, after all, shone on the international stage, and they have garnered significant following because of their noteworthy performances in the past.

Ask international basketball fans about June Mar Fajardo, though, and it would not be a shocker to see them give a quizzical look. That is a little strange, of course, considering how Fajardo has been nearly unstoppable in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for the past three seasons. The 2.08m big man from Cebu first entered the PBA in 2012 as a raw big man with intriguing potential, but he has since ruled the roost so to speak, bagging the league's Most Valuable Player plum for the last three years and, more importantly, leading his club - the San Miguel Beermen - to four conference titles. Already in his fifth season, the man nicknamed "The Kraken" has averaged 16.9 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 58% from the field. It is, therefore, not surprising that is widely considered to be the best player in the Philippines right now, but the question I want to pose is this - can he finally translate that kind of production on the international stage?

Fajardo has been part of the Gilas Pilipinas program since 2013. He has played in all major international men's tournaments with the exception of the FIBA Asia Championship 2015, which he missed due to injury. He has been on the world level twice, playing in Spain for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 and back home in Manila for the FIBA OQT 2016. He has had some interesting moments strewn across his international body of work, but these have been too few and far between. It is quite unusual for a local MVP to be limited so much internationally, but that is exactly what we have seen from Fajardo ever since he first donned the Gilas kit.

Why is that? Some point to how the Gilas play style just does not focus on maximizing big men who play around the basket. Coach Chot Reyes's dribble-drive system is centered on using dynamic perimeter play to spark the offense where Fajardo's role is diminished to practically being a role player. He sets screens, rolls or pops and that's usually it. He rarely gets his number called for one-on-one low post plays, although he has shown some level of effectiveness in that aspect. The flipside, of course, is if Gilas focuses on feeding Fajardo often, they will tend to sacrifice one of their biggest defining traits - speed.

Another reason is the presence of Andray Blatche. Blatche, in many ways, has been a godsend for Gilas. Never before has the national team had a player with his combination of size, versatility, shooting and experience. He is the first bona fide NBA-level player to play for Gilas ever (until maybe Jordan Clarkson comes around), and that easily explains why fans eagerly await his participation before every tournament. The drawback of having Dray around is that Fajardo fades into the background. Coach Chot and former Gilas tactician Tab Baldwin toyed around with the idea of having both Dray and Fajardo inside, but, again, what they gain in size and toughness is offset by their diminished perimeter game and quickness.

This is why a lot of people are waiting with bated breath to see how Fajardo performs this year, especially in the coming SEABA Championship 2017. With Blatche still tied up with his commitments in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and likely to request for some rest after a grueling postseason, there is a distinct possibility Fajardo will be Gilas's main slotman for their sub-zone's qualifier to the FIBA Asia Cup 2017.

If, indeed, Fajardo becomes the national team's top choice at the 5 spot, it will be very interesting to see if he can dominate their SEABA opponents in the same way he dominates in the PBA. Will the Kraken record monster double-doubles on a nightly basis against smaller SEABA teams, or will he continue to struggle finding his rhythm in the international game?

What is more intriguing, though, is what if the Philippines go through and book tickets for the FIBA Asia Cup? Will Fajardo be able to hold his own against the likes of Hamed Haddadi, Yi Jianlian, Zhou Qi, Lee JongHyun, Quincy Davis or even the Takeuchi twins? All of those guys have done splendidly both in their local club leagues and in international competitions, and throngs of basketball-mad Filipinos are hoping that it will finally be Fajardo's turn to shock Asia.

For the reigning PBA MVP to do that, he has to get better used to playing against big men around his size or maybe even bigger. He has to be more consistent with his midrange-to-long-range shooting, and he has to be able to defend opposing big men well. When ranged against SEABA's Delvin Goh, Dodo Sitepu or Tian Yuan Kuek, Fajardo should do really well, but when Haddadi, Yi and Davis come a-knocking, that's when Fajardo's will and skill will truly be tested.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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