LAST year, it was the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel that ended the five-peat reign of the vaunted San Miguel Beermen led by the Cebuano behemoth June Mar Fajardo, the most dominating center ever in the annals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
It happened in the province of Pampanga.
The experience was probably less painful for the Beermen since a sister team brought it down from its pedestal so the PBA crown was kept within the San Miguel Corporation mantle.
It was different, though, this year. A competing conglomerate managed to snatch away the same crown from the SMC franchise in a spectacular and clearly dominating fashion, though it had to bring down two other SMC teams to reach the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
And all these also happened in Pampanga, though in a different venue.
They made short work of the defending champs Gin Kings in the quarters, where they took full advantage of their twice-to-beat incentive, motivated by a grand payback in their minds after losing in last year’s Philippine Cup finals. Then there’s the Beermen in the semis, who managed to stretch the series to a deciding Game Seven.
Despite having a shorter time to rest after a grueling semifinal series, it didn’t matter for the comebacking Chot Reyes-led TNT Tropang Giga juggernaut, who was simply too much for the Chito Victolero-helmed Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots in the finals, where the Tropa prevailed, 4 games to 1.
Before it was a headache named RR Pogoy that delivered the killer blows with his shots from downtown that mocked the defenses of their opponents last year. This year, though, the Tropa’s top rookie pick, Mikey Williams made mincemeat of all his defenders, as he made shot after shot after shot. He even delivered 10 three-pointers in a single game to establish a new scoring record made by a rookie, and led the Tropa to the promised land, and gained a Finals MVP reward in the process.
So is the SMC dynasty demolished? Probably derailed. One championship is not enough to prove it is.
Expect TNT to be stronger than ever, but don’t discount an SMC rebound.
(PHOTO CREDIT: pba.ph)