Destiny. Last night’s Governors’ Cup championship victory by San Mig, fashioned out after a 92-89 humdinger of a win over Rain or Shine in their winner-take-all duel to give the Mixers a historic grand slam and a fourth straight PBA title, was all about destiny. After all, the events that unfolded to eventually give the original PureFoods franchise only the fifth grand slam in PBA history, and the first in 18 years, all point to a providential, if not divine, element in play throughout this historic journey. How can one explain what took place in the fifth and deciding game, for example? The Mixers, rebuffed decisively in their first attempt to clinch the rare feat in Game 4, worked painstakingly this time to take the initiative early, never allowing the Elasto Painters to go ahead after the latter tied it up at 34 midway through the third quarter. They then went on a murderous stretch to take a seemingly formidable 69-53 lead, aided by the benching of Arizona Reid who was hobbling with a sprained ankle he sustained in the previous contest. That Reid injury came out of the blue and definitely was a factor in this contest, as was several misplays normally not committed by the E-Painters. That pass by Paul Lee to a teammate that was somehow obstructed by the referee in front of the ROS bench is a case in point. San Mig’s blowing all but one point of that 16-point lead once Reid returned, as well as the Mixers’ holding firm never to relinquish it also had some air of providence to it, as did the four straight misses from the line by James Yap and Marc Barroca, two of San Mig’s better free-throw shooters, in the dying seconds. And those successive misses from three-point distance by Jeff Chan, Paul Lee and finally Arizona Reid on that last play, though defended well, would also indicate that luck – or fate – was simply not on the E-Painters’ side. Heck, those three are among the best three-point bombers in the entire PBA, and Lee himself demonstrated that earlier in this game where he hit treys seemingly coming from the parking lot, and Reid had made it a habit of burning San Mig on that front particularly in their two victories in the series. But the fact that these three tried to at least extend the game into overtime, but failed, seems to tell all and sundry that, no, it can’t happen simply because San Mig is destined to win this coveted and prestigious grand slam, certainly the greatest feat any team can accomplish in the local pro league. The journey that the Mixers took to get this “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” as Finals MVP James Yap himself described it, is also fraught with circumstances that point to a destined grand slam victory by San Mig. In the two previous conferences where they had to win to set up this date with destiny, the Mixers had to survive seven do-or-die battles, eight if one includes their Game 7 victory over sister team Petron in the 2013 Governors’ Cup, where they last used the name B-Meg in their continuing evolution from the original Hotdogs franchise. They had to beat Talk ‘N Text in the deciding game of a best-of-three quarterfinal series in the 2014 Philippine Cup, where they had a 1-5 start partly due to injuries and had to win four straight games at the end of the eliminations to qualify for the playoffs. They also had to do the same in Game 7 of their semifinal matchup against Giñebra witnessed by an all-time PBA record crowd of 24,886. That was the game where they blew out the Gin Kings aided by the 30 points of Big Game James and the 28 of P.J. Simon. Then, the Mixers had to come from being snuffed out twice by Alaska in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Commissioner’s Cup after falling behind 1-0 and having to win the rubber match, and also had to survive Air21 in a deciding game in their best-of-five semifinal series. Finally, San Mig had to beat both TNT and ROS in the semifinals and finals of this conference to complete the grand slam journey. This historic feat by the Mixers – as indicated by the kind of journey it took – may not have come with the dominance that the four earlier grand slams were accomplished, but it certainly stands out for the determination, grit and teamwork it took to achieve it. One should note that Crispa’s two grand slams in 1976 and 1983 took place seven years apart of each other, while San Miguel Beer’s came six years after that in 1989, and Alaska’s own followed after another seven years in 1996. That it took all of 18 years for another grand slam to happen may be attributed to the much greater difficulty of pulling off such a feat nowadays due to the PBA’s greater balance, where no single team can dominate anymore unlike in the Crispa-Toyota days or the days of San Miguel Beer that used the core of the Northern Consolidated team and Alaska that prided itself with the chemistry that was developed by, yes, Tim Cone, the same coach that orchestrated this phenomenal San Mig achievement who now stands all alone at the top of the league’s coaching firmament as the only one to have won two grand slams and 18 championships. Yes, Alvin Patrimonio, now the team’s manager, and Jerry Codiñera, the only two players to have had their numbers retired by the franchise, can really be proud of this San Mig team that took after them and the great tradition they established with similar worth and talent and commensurate honor. And so can previous players who have worn the PureFoods, Coney Island, B-Meg and San Mig jersey like Rey Evangelista, Dindo Pumaren, Glenn Capacio, Al Solis, Elmer Cabahug, the late Edgar Tanuan, Kerby Raymundo, Ronnie Magsanoc, Noy Castillo, Jun Limpot, Roger Yap, Jojo Lastimosa, J.B. Yango, Willie Generalao, Nelson Asaytono, Bong Ravena and Boyet Fernandez. But a lot more people can similarly be proud of this bunch of players who have proven worthy of the PureFoods brand of talented, skillful, determined and gutsy play, people who were responsible for establishing and leading the team itself during its early days and into its evolution as a grand slam champion. These are Ayala Corporation Chairman emeritus Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala, whom one can still imagine jumping from his box seat with arms raised to cheer his team that was then under the Ayala Group, the late Ely Capacio who steered the team to a title in the early ‘90s and would have been immensely pleased despite a different role before his demise in the San Miguel conglomerate, Baby Dalupan who gave PureFoods its first title in 1990, former team manager and still a big San Mig diehard Monchito Mossesgeld, former coaches Chot Reyes, Eric Altamirano, Chito Narvasa, Derrick Pumaren, Ronnie Magsanoc and Ryan Gregorio, and, of course, current management leaders Butch Alejo, Rene Pardo and San Miguel big boss Ramon Ang. San Mig’s singular accomplishment, to be sure, was a product of a lot of people’s effort, but make no mistake about it. It came to pass as part of the team’s destiny mainly because Cone and his assistants, Johnny Abarrientos, Richard del Rosario, Mon Jose, Jason Webb and those who came before them who have moved on, Jeffrey Cariaso and Olsen Racela, fully invested themselves into this mission along with the entire Mixers ballclub, starters or reserves alike. Its really uncanny, but for one’s destiny to come to pass, he has to fully invest himself to bring the circumstances to make it happen, and that’s what the Mixers, from the first man to the last, precisely did.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:51:40 +0000
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