Slaughter impressed with Fajardo in the first face-off of the two Cebuano Giants

Ginebra rookie center Greg Slaughter and San Miguel’s Junemar Fajardo, the Best Player of the Philippine Cup, have been through a lot of battle ever sinced their college days in Cebu where they played for the University of the Visayas and the University of Cebu, respectively in the CESAFI wars.

But last Sunday’s PBA All-Star game was their first encounter as a pro and the fans have finally witnessed the beginning of the clash of the titans in the first professional league in Asia.

Slaughter impressed with Fajardo

During their times in the CESAFI, Fajardo has been always a second fiddle to Slaughter and every time they faced, Slaughter will always dominate.

But Fajardo has been improving a lot ever since he entered the league and as a matter of fact, his award as the best player in last conference was a testament that he is vastly improvement indeed.

And in their first face off, Slaughter came away impressed with the way his former college rival played against him in the game pitting the PBA All-Stars against the Gilas Pilipinas squad..

Though a mere exhibition match, Slaughter, who was voted by fans to start for the All-Star Selection, made sure the Gilas squad worked for every basket during the showpiece match that served as the highlight of the annual PBA All-Star festivities at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The 6-11 Ginebra freshman center had his highlight moment when he blocked a fadeaway attempt by Fajardo in the waning minutes of the third period, but he came away from the match impressed with the improvements in his fellow Cebuano’s game.

Slaughter said Fajardo has certainly grown tougher physically while getting more comfortable with his shots inside the paint.

“Definitely (Fajardo grew stronger). And he’s just more comfortable with his touch, his shot and everything. We’re both still young, so looking for more showdowns in the future,” said Slaughter at the end of the All-Star game which Gilas won, 101-93, against the PBA All-Stars.

Slaughter, who withdrew from the Gilas pool, led the All-Stars with 11 points, 10 rebounds, one block and one assist in 26 minutes in his first face-off with Fajardo after two previous duels in the pro league were aborted owing to injuries suffered by the San Miguel big man.

But now that they got their first battle out of the way, the Ginebra rookie said he is looking forward to playing with the sophomore center in the future – something that almost happened at Gilas as well as in their college days in Cebu.

“When that opportunity comes, then I’m sure, it will really be fun,” he said. “I almost ended up playing with him (Fajardo) in Cebu, coz I almost went to the same school and same with Gilas, but maybe down the road.”

As for their personal rivalry, the top pick overall of this season’s draft said there will be more battles to come.

“June Mar is a big guy. We’ve been doing this (matchup) a lot (in college), but this won’t be our last,” Slaughter said.

With the arrival of the two giants from Cebu, expect the fans to be more interested in this basketball-crazy nation.

— with reports from Spin.ph