SAN Miguel Beer is champ again because it is truly a great team. Why, because it is built with materials that seem to last forever like the pyramids of Egypt.
But was San Miguel just lucky in winning its second straight crown, lining itself up for a Grand Slam?
Of course, not.
San Miguel has always been known as a squad used to eating adversities for breakfast.
The Beermen beat the TNT KaKtropa on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, 102-90, for a 4-2 clincher of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven Finals and, in doing so, they erased the ignominy of placing No. 7 in the eliminations.
When SMB needs to win, it delivers—like a car responding promptly to a driver’s press of the gas pedal.
And when the car’s key cog conks out, as when Charles Rhodes had bombed out in the early goings, a simple replacement should fix it.
Chris McCullough was dispatched to arrest SMB’s skid, the Beermen avoiding the cliff of a 2-5 start as Rhodes was not the same man that made SMB the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup champion.
He seemed to have gotten old.
But with McCullough, only 24, around, the road back to glory was as certain as Bong Go becoming senator.
McCullough engineered SMB’s wipeout of its quarterfinal and semifinal rivals before he helped castrate KaTropa’s title dreams, belittling TNT’s 10-1 elimination finish, with a performance made in heaven.
SMB’s legendary depth in local personnel also keyed the victory.
One pure proof: sharpshooter Marcio Lassiter suffering a season-ending injury.
Von Pessumal more than made up for Lassiter’s absence, shooting threes in classic Lassiter style in the Finals’ crucial stretches.
SMB’s talent-laden bench was also punctuated by the huge games of Christian Standhardinger and Terrence Romeo, whose pivotal roles finally came to the fore.
Standhardinger guarding Terrence Jones consistently and Romeo firing triples at will were simply dazzling.
With SMB’s 27th crown overall secured—even becoming as the first lowest-ranked team to become a champ in PBA history—why, its legend lives on.
Quiet now, please and just savor the moment?