MISSION accomplished for San Miguel Beer.
Winner of three straight Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup championships,the Beermen are grateful to be just the second team in league history to accomplish the feat of taking the Perpetual trophy.
San Miguel Beer wrapped up its best-of-seven finals series against Ginebra, 4-1, with a 91-85 victory in Game 5 to achieve its goal of keeping the Philippine Cup title.
But the Beermen didn’t get to win three straight All-Filipino crowns by accident.
They were pushed to the brink by TNT KaTropa in the semifinals, and forced to win Game 7, and was given a relatively competitive series by Barangay Ginebra, before they were able to finally hoist another trophy, their 23rd overall in franchise history and seventh All-Filipino jewel.
Jubilant San Miguel coach Leo Austria, who captured his fourth championship with the Beermen in just seven conferences, shared the team’s recipe to success in describing the team’s journey and the happiness and satisfaction that it currently enjoys.
“I’m just so happy for the team. Hindi lang sa akin and sa players, but this means a lot to all the members of our team,” said Austria. “We’re the second team to have the Perpetual Trophy and win three straight Philippine Cup.”
“This team really worked hard for us to get these championships. Noong araw, may mga novela pa itong team pero now, we have a group that knows how to sacrifice for the team to reach our goals. This is so special,” he added.
Though Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo was always the focal point of the San Miguel assault, Chris Ross, who was allowed by the Barangay Ginebra defense to have openings in the series, stepped up to the plate and led the team in scoring as he captured his second straight Finals Most Valuable Player.
Like Austria, he, too, credited the team’s selflessness as the main key to its success.
“There’s a lot of things I can say but you don’t win three straight Philippine Cup championships without sacrifice,” said Ross. “That’s what this team is all about. It’s about sacrifice. We’re all about sacrifice. That’s how you win these championships. That’s what we’ve been doing. I love these guys.”
He then commended his coach for doing a great job in figuring the team out.
“Coach Leo has adapted so well to the kind of team that we have,” Ross said.
Prior to the start of the tournament, San Miguel is already the heavy favorite to win it all for obvious reasons and it held its own end of the bargain and lived up to expectations.