TNT TNT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT La PBA Commorucym Cup Finals against Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. –Marlo Cueto / Inquirer.net
Calvin Oftana heard the buzz surrounding the possibility of being named the best player in the conference (BPC) in the PBA commissioner’s cup.
“I have been asked questions about this in recent weeks,” said Oftana, adding that his main objective is how he can do the work for TNT against Barangay Ginebra in the final, which started at the time of the press at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Being on the championship stage is the reason why Oftana is likely to claim the prize in what could be a race at the elbow with the neck with Northport Star and the good friend Arvin Tolentino.
Read: PBA: Arvin Tolentino, Calvin oftana frontrunners for the best PLUM player
Oftana and Tolentino are among the five candidates for the prestigious Honor, with June Mar Fajardo of June Mar of San Miguel Beer, the head of Robert Bolick and Converges Rookie Jordan.
Fajardo leads the category of statistical points with an average of 42 followed by the Bolick (37.1), the Tolentino (36.3), the head (32.6) and the Oftana (31.9). Forty-five percent of statistics will be used to determine the winner.
The rest will come from the media votes, which has 30%, and the players, who have 25%. Historically, the winner was decided who has the most votes among those covering the League.
Read: PBA Finals: RHJ POWERS TNT PASS GINEBRA for 1-0
While Fajardo, holder of an 11 BPC record, and Bolick have the advantage in terms of figures, the voters will not take into account one or the other of the players since San Miguel and Nlex failed to make the playoffs.
And management? The defeat in the quarterfinals of Converge against Rain or Shine also put it out of the photo. No player who missed the playoffs or played for a team that lost in the quarters won the best player of the PLUM.
Humble beginning
This leaves Tolentino and Oftana as the strongest contenders. The two have never won the prize, but to get one would mean a lot at this early stage of their respective career in the big league.
Tolentino may have had his best conference in the PBA, which led the Batang pier to just their third appearance in the semi-finals after having dominated the eliminations with a file of 9-2 and defeated the Magnolia Hotshots in the quarters.
He collected an average of 20.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 interceptions and 1.1 blocks in 18 games, but fought in the semi-finals when Northport was decisively beaten, 4-1, by Barangay Ginebra.
In this series, Tolentino only scored 12.8 points, although he had 7.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.6 interceptions and 0.8 blocks.
Oftana found 18.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 18 games for Tropang Giga until the end of the semi-finals, and was one of the reasons why they fired in a second consecutive championship.
A few weeks before, he had mentioned Tolentino as a deserving winner, given the work he had done in Northport, but would be honored if the head sign goes in his favor.
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“If ever (I win the price), I would feel blessed, not because of what I did individually, but because of what the team has accomplished,” he said.
