Murphy, Kings eye 2-0 lead vs Beermen
The PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals marked the first time Jordan Murphy faced June Mar Fajardo.
And after helping Barangay Ginebra take Game 1 over San Miguel Beer, Murphy is hoping he can hold his own against Fajardo, who he feels is quite a handful.
“Man, that’s a big guy. Super big guy,” Murphy said as the Gin Kings go for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series on Friday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Tipoff is at 5:15 p.m., before Rain or Shine eyes a similar lead over Converge at 7:30 p.m. in their own quarterfinal showdown, which is expected to be as competitive as the opener.
Ginebra won handily, 104-95, on Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum, with Murphy continuing to get comfortable while getting unlikely support from Isaac Go, who was key in the second-half pullaway.
But the Gin Kings are bracing for a Beermen fightback led by Fajardo, with Murphy among those tasked to neutralize him.
“You can tell that he’s really seen a lot of defenses, so it’s hard to throw something at him that he’s never seen before,” Murphy said. “Super experienced. You can tell he’s really skilled.
“So, we just got to be able to lock in on him for the rest of the series and see what the outcome is,” he added.
Murphy is also facing a friend from way back in San Miguel import George King, who was his high school teammate at William J. Brennan High School in San Antonio, Texas.
The two have yet to catch up, but Murphy said that will come later as the two are more focused on the business at hand.
“No, I [haven’t talked] to him since we found out we’re going to mess up against each other,” he said. “We’ll probably talk after the series, but during the series we probably won’t talk at all, to be honest.”
“You know, there’s just no friends when you’re on the court, you know what I mean? This is a really competitive series, and there’s a lot on the line,” he added. “So, just knowing how competitive we both are. I mean, afterwards we’ll have words, but for right now, it’s all competitiveness.”
And knowing King, Murphy knows he won’t let his team just roll over, especially since another loss would put the Beermen in a huge hole.
“He hates losing. He hates losing the most,” Murphy said.
