Slaughter’s the name of the game

MANILA, Philippines - Through Barangay Ginebra’s struggle, Greg Slaughter has found a way to shine with his hulking personal numbers making him the Best Player of the Conference race leader at the halfway mark of the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup elimination round.

As he leads the tourney in scoring (22.8 points) and rebounding (15.3 rebounds), the 7-foot-1 behemoth also shows the way in statistical points race with an average of 43.8 a game.

Slaughter leads the derby despite a mere 30 bonus points on their struggling 3-3 (win-loss) start in the all-Filipino tourney.

Reigning back-to-back MVP winner Junmar Fajardo, with 50 bonus points on their league-leading 5-1 mark, is running second behind Slaughter in the BPC race with an average of 42.7 statistical points (SPs).

Sean Anthony, enjoying a virtual rebirth with his new team NLEX, is at third with 41.2 SPs followed by teammate Asi Taulava with 40.4 then Globalport star sophomore guard Stanley Pringle with 37.6.

Reigning Commissioner’s Cup BPC holder Jayson Castro (35.6) is at sixth, followed by Vic Manuel (33.0), Alex Cabagnot (32.3), Terrence Romeo (31.8) and Willy Wilson (31.5) to close out the Top 10.

Fajardo (19.7 ppg and 14.3 rpg), Anthony (20.8 ppg and 13.2 rpg), Taulava (20.0 ppg and 13.8 rpg) and Wilson (13.7 ppg and 10.7 rpg) have double-double norms like Slaughter.

Curiously, a sixth player also averaging double-double numbers is Mark Yee, a journeyman who has emerged as a vital force for Mahindra.

As the tourney’s second leading scorer, Gary David (21.2 ppg) is Meralco’s best placed player in the BPC derby at 18th.

In his third year in the pros, Slaughter has improved by leaps and bounds, putting in huge double-double numbers in their first five games.

On top of his league-leading scoring and rebounding norms, Slaughter also averages 3.3 assists and 1.0 block against 3.17 errors.

With his teammates starting to pick up their own games, the Gin Kings won their last two games, thus moving to joint seventh with the Barako Bull Energy at 3-3.