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Philippines, 19 May 2024 |
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OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: Who can stop SMBeermen from extending their reign as PH Cup champs? By Eddie Alinea of The Manila Times PhilBoxing.com Mon, 26 Oct 2020  SM Beermen. At the start of the year, on the eve of the PBA’s celebration of its 45th season, somebody wrote asking who can stop the San Miguel Corp. Group of monopolizing the country’s pioneering play-for-pay league? Or, can somebody put an end to the San Miguel Beermen’s domination of the league’s most prestigious Philippine Cup (All-Filipino)? The league’s 45th Season took off last March 8 with the Beermen, who’ve won all the Filipino diadem’s five consecutive seasons since 2014, opened their campaign for a six-peat with a 94-78 rout of sister team Magnolia Hotshots, serving of a determined bid to remain champions. The Covid 19 pandemic intervened, though, forcing the government to impose a lockdown on all sporting activities and the league to stay hibernation from there up to the present time or for a period of seven months and counting. The PBA has been allowed to restart, starting last October 11 with the resumption of the Philippine Cup and after two weeks of hostilities, it looks what it only needed is its bubble version of where the U.S. NBA had just succeeded. But that is only in terms of stopping coach Leo Austria and his aging Beermen from further extending their All-Filipino dominance. In terms of breaking the RSA Group’s league monopoly, though, remains a big question mark. Except for losing the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup, basketball fanatics have been witnessing the RSA owned squads -- the Beermen, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, and the now Hotshots alternately winning not only the Philippine Cup, but the Commissioner’s Cup as well since the 2014-15 Season. The only team to ever come close was the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, who managed to wrestle the Commissioner’s Cup at the expense of the Alaska aces in 2012. In the league’s 44th Season, the Beermen had won the Philippine Cup and the Commissioner’s Cup that put them in line for a possible second franchise Grand slam, counting their first in 1989. Only to be thwarted, however, by, who else, but sister team Gin Kings, who cornered last year’s Governor’s Cup, their third in the season-ending conference since it was introduced in 1993. From the time of their coronation, the Gin Kings coach Tim Cone boldly announced the team’s next target was to dethrone the Beermen as the All-Filipino champs and bring the title to Ginebra, his first since transferring from SanMig Coffee. The 2019 Governors’ Cup was the King’s 12th, since acquiring a franchise as an expansion team in 1979 — including a pair each of Philippine Cups, Fiesta Cups, Open Conference, Commissioner’s Cups, one First Conference and a special PBA-IBA flags. The Kings had ruled the 2016 and 2017 Governors’ Cup before completing a third last January, all at the expense of the hapless Meralco Bolts. The Hotshots, of course, were the 2018 Governors’ Cup winners. What was significant was that the rest of RSA Group’s championship conquest, again, deprived archrival MVP Group’s latest attempt to break SMC teams’ five straight-year dominance. Talk ‘N Text, now called Tropang Giga, the MVP Group’s flag carrier being the only team of the three owned by Pangilinan to annex Conference championships with seven, hasn’t tasted a top of the victory podium finish since its 2012-2013 conquest of the Philippine Cup. The third MVP Group team in the league is the Northern Luzon Expressway. For romping off with his 22nd gonfalon, Barangay Ginebra coach Tim continued to be the winningest bench tactician on the list, seven ahead of the legendary Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan of the great Crispa Redmanizers (15), whom he proudly considers his idol. Of that overall winnings, 16 were won by the Oregon-born American mentor while handling Alaska with the other six while calling the shots from the bench of B-Meg and San Mig Coffee of Purefoods and Ginebra. Black, with 11, is currently ranked third in the list of only 16 coaches who have so far stashed away with at least one Conference title. He is followed by Jong Uichico with 9, Chot Reyes and Leo Austria, 8; and Yeng Guiao, 7. Others in the list are Tommy Manotoc, 6; Dante Silverio and Ed Ocampo, 5 each; Robert Jaworski, 4; Turo Valenzona, Siot Tanquincen and Ryan Gregorio, 3 apiece; and Derrick Pumaren and Perry Ronquillo, 2 each. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea of The Manila Times.  |
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