Brondial proves worth as scrappy big man for SMB
The recent six-game PBA Philippine Cup Finals series between San Miguel Beer and TNT served as a canvas for Rodney Brondial.
And he painted quite a picture.
Consider this: In the four games that the Beermen won to retain their crown and their status as kings of the all-Filipino tournament, Brondial averaged 10.5 points and 11 rebounds per game—including two strong double-double performances in the last two games of the series.
In the two games that the Tropang Giga won, Brondial chipped in 6.0 points and 2.0 rebounds.
That’s Finals MVP-level impact right there, someone joked.
Brondial, who shoots comedy shorts on social media, cracked back: “It’s hard to be the Finals MVP on this team because we have a tradition. If you win the Finals MVP, you’ll pay for dinner.
“That’s going to cost me,” he said in jest. “So never mind, let’s leave that to the others.”
On the serious side, Brondial admitted his focus was solely on relieving the load of San Miguel’s bigs—one of them named June Mar Fajardo—on one side of the court.
“I know my job and it’s to help June Mar and our defense. I want to help with the intangibles. Scoring is just a bonus,” Brondial said following their title win at the Mall of Asia Arena last Sunday.
Sometimes, that mindset consumes him to the point where he isn’t aware of his contributions on the more glamorous end of the court.
“Sometimes, I get shocked when I see that I have 15 points or whatever because rebounding and defense, those are my jobs,” he said.
Coach Leo Austria values Brondial’s willingness to do the dirty work, inserting the former Adamson star into the starting lineup in Game 6, where the Beermen went for the closer.
Repaying that trust, Brondial finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. He also put the Beermen ahead, 3-2, with 17 points and 15 boards in Game 5.
