Grand Slam Denied

TNT Tropang Giga were on the verge of basketball immortality. Under Coach Chot Reyes and his new defensive philosophy, they carved out two straight championships—both at the expense of their long-time rivals, Barangay Ginebra. Back-to-back titles against the league’s most popular team? That alone was sweet, parang extra rice na libre sa karinderya. But what made it sweeter was the looming prize: a shot at the Grand Slam.

With Rondae Hollis-Jefferson doing a little bit of everything (scoring, rebounding, defending, at baka nagbabantay pa ng parking sa Araneta), Jayson Castro proving age is just a number, Rey Nambatac bringing extra firepower, and Jordan Heading joining the mix for the All-Filipino, TNT looked like they had the perfect recipe. Fans could already smell history—three straight titles, Grand Slam glory.

But in the Grand Slam All Filipino Finals, history had other plans—and its name was San Miguel Beermen. The mighty SMB frontline, the depth, and the championship pedigree proved too much. TNT’s gas tank finally ran dry, their shots clanked, and the dream slipped away. Parang nag-order ka ng 6-piece nuggets, tapos 5 lang ang laman. Ang sakit.

To be fair, beating Ginebra twice in a row is already the stuff of legend. That’s like slaying the dragon two times, only to get KO’d by the ka-barangay boss na mas malaki pala. TNT still had an incredible run, but missing out on the Grand Slam left fans with that familiar “sayang” feeling—like a jeep na nag-full stop two blocks before your actual stop.

So no Grand Slam for Tropang Giga this time. But hey, they gave us a wild ride, reminded us of the glory of back-to-backs, and proved they’re still one of the PBA’s standard-bearers. 

And knowing TNT, hindi sila aatras—babalik ‘yan, dala ulit si Rondae, si Castro, at buong tropa… hoping na next time, walang bitin sa sinaing.