Postseason success, let alone a championship, has been elusive for the San Miguel Beermen. Advancing to the playoffs has become the bare minimum for the PBA’s winningest franchise, with an early exit in the 2024-2025 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup sticking out like a sore thumb. That being said, the Beermen have entered the 2025 Honda PBA Philippine Cup with a renewed focus on winning plain and simple. 

SMB has won four of their first six games in the All-Filipino Conference, with strong wins against the likes of the Meralco Bolts and the Phoenix Fuel Masters coming with tough losses to the likes of the Magnolia Hotshots and the then-winless TNT Tropang Giga. Uneven as it may seem to be, San Miguel is off to a decent start and at the forefront of that is CJ Perez.   

Perez has been a pillar of strength and with June Mar Fajardo, has provided a potent 1-2 punch for the Beermen. Both were unstoppable against the Fuel Masters, but it was Perez that set the tone for SMB. It didn’t really matter what type of defense Phoenix threw at Perez; he still found a way to score through contact and even when the window was quite narrow. 

For much of Perez’s career, he has been an unstoppable force on offense, scoring at will no matter what. He has had bouts of turbulence and it has at times been costly, but as the top overall pick in the 2018 PBA Draft has aged, so too has his game. 

San Miguel has not been one to curtail his aggression, but they have instead encouraged Perez to be more deliberate in his approach and the results have been solid thus far. The 31-year old is leading the league in scoring (24.3 PPG) on 50.5 percent shooting for the field. His 4.7 assists in six games would be a career-best and it’s an indication that he continues to work well with the likes of Fajardo and Don Trollano. 

All signs are pointing to Perez making a run at the 2025 Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference. As it stands, though, it seems to be a three-horse race with him, Fajardo, and the Tropang Giga’s Calvin Oftana. Fajardo remains a daily double-double, while Oftana’s efficiency could see him take the award. However, Perez has been doing a little bit of everything and it has all been critical to the Beermen’s campaign thus far. 

Halfway through the All-Filipino Conference, it seems that Perez has been able to do what has been asked of him apart from scoring. He’s been a playmaker for his teammates, but the two-time PBA champion has also made a more concerted effort on the defensive end. The steals have been obvious, but he has also had the tendency to lead his opponents into the waiting arms of Fajardo, who would culminate the stop with a blocked shot. Playing the team game has thus put Perez and SMB in a position to make a run. 

However, a Philippine Cup title is not yet guaranteed for the San Miguel Beermen, even if CJ Perez has helped them gain ground on their championship aspirations. There’s still a lot of basketball to be played, but Perez has made it clear early on that any chances of outlasting the Beermen will have to go through him.