Brondial shines in silent way to help San Mig in ousting NLEX
June Mar Fajardo had 26 points and 23 rebounds on Christmas Day which had San Miguel Beer advancing to the semifinals of the PBA Philippine Cup ahead of everyone else after a 101-94 win over NLEx.
Those are numbers worthy of his reputation as being the best in his generation. Being the first to the Final Four is also worthy of the Beermen’s tag as being the No. 1 team after the eliminations.
The surprise of the most wonderful time of the day for San Miguel clearly was Rodney Brondial, who plucked down 14 rebounds that went with eight points to help ease the burden on the stars of the Beermen like Fajardo.
“That’s just how I am. I’m more focused on rebounding, intangibles and our defense,” the veteran bruiser told the Inquirer after his silent yet impressive outing at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. “If I can help June Mar with those things, I consider my job done.”
Brondial has always been the silent worker, never wanting the attention for himself. The important thing for him is helping his team.
The season of giving, it seems, was something that Brondial took to heart. He had no worries giving scoring opportunities to the other San Miguel cogs.
“We have a lot of scorers in this team, so I don’t really join the frenzy,” Brondial, also a famous vlogger, added. “Our scorers need their rhythm and if I join in, they might lose it. I’m unselfish, so it’s all good.”
Unselfish
Brondial’s unselfishness allowed three other Beermen to finish in double digits, with Jericho Cruz, Don Trollano and CJ Perez finishing with 18, 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Brondial knows that his work is not done, and that he will continue to do what he’s good at when the Beermen start their best-of-seven semifinal series against either Converge or sister team Barangay Ginebra.
After all, people remember the champion teams and those who contribute. For him, that’s more than enough.
