Legendary

Championship # 3
(Photo credit to PBA.Inquirer.net)

What the San Miguel Beermen were able to accomplish just a few nights ago versus the Alaska Aces in Game 7 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals goes beyond historic.

How can you not call and recognize it as something more, when the team was all but left for dead following a zero wins to three losses predicament heading into Game 4? That even if they had won Game 4, historically speaking, the leading team usually ends it in the 5th (while in a few cases, in the 6th).

Still, no comebacks. Never. No team in the history of the PBA has forced a Game 7 after falling 0-3. No team in the history of professional, documented basketball, has ever come back and won four games straight en route to a championship.

The 2016 PBA Philippine Cup San Miguel Beermen are legendary.


Junemar Fajardo. Chris Ross. Marcio Lassiter. Arwind Santos. Alex Cabagnot. Chris Lutz. Ronald Tubid. Gabby Espinas. Ryan Arana. Yancy de Ocampo. Brian Heruela. David Semerad. Bitoy Omolon. JayR Reyes. Michael Mabulac.

And of course, head coach Leo Austria and his slew of assistant coaches.

They all made history. They are all living, breathing legends that walk among us. They have accomplished something that has not been done before. Who knows if we will ever see another 3-4 comeback in this lifetime?

Hats off to Coach Leo for sticking with his boys even when they appeared to be sleepwalking from Games 1 to 3. When news broke out that Fajardo was hurt and might not be able to play this series, the Beermen appeared to forget who they were individually. They forgot who they were as basketball players.

This is not a team built through draft picks and free agents. No, this is a solid, stellar ensemble made through trades and key transactions. They have about seven to eight guys who could very well start and put up solid numbers on any other PBA team. Hell, their 3rd point guard on the rotation-- Heruela, averaged 10 points and 5 assists just last year for Pete's sake and he could barely crack the line-up. So there was absolutely no reason in our minds that the Beermen couldn't at least put up a decent fight.

But well, they didn't.

To win it all, they first needed to realize that they can win minus Fajardo. And they did so in Game 4. It was all heart, all business. And even if the Alaska Aces side would like to argue that there were about three to four missed/ bum calls that turned the tide in that game, they were not making shots while the Beermen were answering from all corners while defending like their livelihoods depended on it.

Once they realized that they could win, it gave them confidence. Come Game 5, Fajardo came back and proved to be unstoppable even at a reduced role. Guys responded to his return, Santos was back in his comfort zone as a weak side clean-up guy, a second fiddle to his 2x MVP, Lassiter suddenly found himself a bit more open because of all the attention that was being thrown Fajardo's (and even De Ocampo) way, and everything started to click once more.

We give Chris Ross a lot of credit for setting the tone defensively for the Beermen, basically responding to the Aces' hustle with some of his own-- if not more, to cover for some of his lackadaisical, "going through the motions" teammates (Hi Arwind and Marcio). The league was right to hand him the PBA Finals MVP award, and Ross was right when he said that he is gladly sharing it with all of his guys-- specially those from the bench.

Espinas showed the kind of game that gave his career a restart back when he was playing, ironically, for the Aces. De Ocampo turned back the hands of father time in short bursts, ably filling in for Fajardo (and even looking a bit better with his high post, passing game). Arana was solid. Lutz appeared motivated. Guys were filling in when and where they could all while simply being better than the other team's second unit.

Now that we feel that we have given the players their props, let us get down and dirty will the "benta" and "luto" talk, shall we?

In the first three games, Beermen fans themselves were talking "benta," accusing some of their players of selling out be it Arwind Santos (who looked really sloppy) or Marcio Lassiter (who has always been inconsistent). In our minds, we are looking at all these "fans" and asking, how would the Aces pay any of those guys? You do realize that only five players on the Aces' roster make the legal max of P420K, while about 7 of your guys make the same amount, if not more (which is illegal, allegedly).

Some guys claimed that the mafia did it. But wouldn't they make more money if they bet on a Beermen #Grandslam?

Can of worms. Tough to discuss. In our minds, Santos basically found a comfort zone in playing a stretch 4 to Fajardo. A clean up guy who works the weak side and has the license to take threes. Minus his milking cow, the spotlight was on him to deliver. And though he has done so in the past, a player is always susceptible to losing some of his effectiveness with time.

Lassiter? When this guy can stay relevant for a full conference, and not just disappear one game and appear the next, then we can really talk about him as the heir to Dondon Hontiveros' Beermen role. He is getting there, but not quite. Still in some funk. Specially when his "buddy" Lutz is starting ahead of him or playing with him.

Then the "luto."

Some circles claim that the series was rigged, starting Game 4, to force a Game 7.

The numbers might show that sure, the Beermen enjoyed a lot of the calls. But it was ultimately because the Aces' couldn't defend de Ocampo (and Fajardo) in the post because Sonny Thoss and Eric Menk were brutally slow, Vic Manuel was short and Noy Baclao has been a joke much of his PBA career. Take away the arm bar, and guys who can't move their feet quick enough will always get called for fouls.

The Aces guards? JVee Casio was getting lit like a ganja on Puff Puff Pass Tuesdays. Cabagnot, Lassiter, Lutz, Ross-- every one was given specific orders to post Casio's gray-haired ass down. Hit or miss.

So where is the "luto" in that when your team, which was supposed to be an elite defensive unit, was really under-performing?

Fajardo's return ultimately broke the proverbial Aces' camel's back, too.

Oh, and that delay of four days from Game 6 to 7. Which some Aces fans claim to have given the Beermen, Fajardo specially, a lot of rest time.

The PBA says that no venue was available on Sunday, following Friday's Game 6. So they had to push it all the way to Wednesday.

Okay, they could have held it on Monday or Tuesday, since the league has played games on odd dates anyway. But yeah.

The Beermen are coming off a three game winning streak. Why would they want to risk losing all the momentum that they gained just for Fajardo to what, play the full Game 7 (which he didn't, because he looks legitimately bothered by that Jireh Ibanes knee)?

If anything, wouldn't it give the Aces more breathing room to get their minds right after losing three straight and potentially, the Finals altogether? For the guys to regroup, see where they were going wrong and what they can work on to salvage the title and their reputation?

They made a half-assed "protest" in Game 7 by calling three straight timeouts. Some say that it was in order for them to rule out the "TV timeouts" and engage the Beermen in a running game. Which they didn't. Some say that it was to protest the Finals altogether, not just the delay.

Eh di sana hndi na lang kayo sumipot sa laro, kung gusto niyo talaga mag protesta.

The game didn't need that. The historic Game 7 didn't need that. We'll give Coach Alex Compton all the respect he deserves, and just leave this here. But in our minds, those three timeouts did more damage to his team by giving the players a defeatist mentality.

"Dinadaya tayo, niluluto tayo, hindi talaga tayo mananalo blah blah blah"

At day's end, the Beermen made more shots, more stops, and that is why they are the 2-15-2016 PBA Philippine Cup champions.

Yes Father, it IS a #BEERacle