#BeerYear

Dynasty.
(Photo credit Sports5.ph) 

It has been a very good harvest for the San Miguel Beermen at the close of the PBA's monumental 40th PBA season. We saw two more teams added into the already unpredictable mix of PBA franchises duking it out conference after conference, not to mention us having to bear with the "joke" that is Manny Pacquiao, certified PBA playing-coach, plus the first ever jam-packed opening game held at the jaw-dropping Philippine Arena in Bulacan.

So in a way, it is only fitting that the league's oldest remaining ballclub has finally rid itself of its demons a.k.a. Petronovela and has continued its winning tradition. This year, the Beermen took home both the PBA Philippine and Governor's Cup though in contrasting styles versus the same opponent (Alaska Aces). In the first conference, while you could say that the Beermen looked dominant, they traded for old hand Alex Cabagnot to replace starting point guard Sol Mercado. This didn't have much of an effect, and the Finals dragged on to the whole seven games that took an Arwind Santos ballsy clutch triple to seal the deal.

In the third conference, versus the very same Aces, the Beermen just steamrolled right through with Cabagnot being a huge factor on both ends. Sure, they had the services of super import AZ Reid, but the Aces were armed by Best Import awardee Romeo Travis and we doubt that they would use his shortcomings as an excuse.


Back to the Beermen. In the Governor's Cup, and in the Finals, Cabagnot was back to doing what he did best: taking control of the offense, getting the ball to his teammates and just knocking down open shots when it was presented to him. None of the "crunchman" hero-ball antics that has made him such a polarizing figure before. Just straight up, Grade A, point guard basketball.

And they did that, with a broken-down 2x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo (battling plantar fasciitis), the first conference's Finals MVP Arwind Santos taking a backseat to Reid and Chris Lutz basically playing like nothing's changed in Game 1, to disappearing to wherever again the rest of the way.

Then there's Marcio Lassiter. The Fire to Lutz' Ice. You can thank Cabagnot for finding him all the time. For Reid for drawing all the defenders in.

But at day's end, the shooter still needs to make the shot.

Moving on to next season and it is crystal clear who the team to beat is. There is arguably no stronger five than what the Beermen can put on the floor: Cabagnot, Lutz, Lassiter, Santos and Fajardo. Then they have defensive pest Chris Ross, a rejuvenated Ronald Tubid and a nice mix of young (Ron Pascual, David Semerad) and old (Gabby Espinas, Yancy de Ocampo) guys.

And best of all, this team actually looks like they love playing with one another. Before, they were always at each other's throats (some literally) because of the redundancy in talent. Nowadays, everyone knows who the meal tickets are. Everyone plays a role. The reserves are there to push the starters. The starters are there to get the job done.

No one cares if it's Santos dropping 20 and 10 one night, Fajardo 20 and 15 the next, then Cabagnot and Lassiter putting on a Golden State Warriors' worthy mix tape.

As long as they're winning.

Truth be told, save for Fajardo, Cabagnot, Lutz, Lassiter and Santos have been together for quite some time now. So the familiarity and trust has surely been developed by now. Throw in a selfless, kind-hearted yet dominant force on the court like Fajardo, and everything just falls into place. Credit goes to Leo Austria on that one.

Iba ang may pinagsamahan.

Wag ka lang mag pa interview o kaya lumaro sa Gilas ng walang paalam :)