San Mig wins Governors' Cup to complete Grand slam

MANILA: Champions before, immortals from now on.
Playing with steely resolve against an enemy that refused to crack, San Mig Coffee on Wednesday night eked out a 92-89 victory over Rain or Shine in their rubber match for the PBA Governors’ Cup to complete what many thought was improbable at this day and age: the Grand Slam.
James Yap, the former two-time MVP who didn’t get an inclusion to the Mythical Team this season, dropped the most telling baskets in the stretch that sent the crowd of more than 23,000 at the Araneta Coliseum into a frenzied celebration.
He finished with 29 points, nine of them in the fourth period, to lead the Mixers to their march to greatness that only three teams before them have ever done before.
“Honestly, I never thought it could be done anymore,” San Mig coach Tim Cone said after winning his 18th title overall and the second Grand Slam – 18 years after the first with Alaska. “But my guys found ways to win, they always did.”
Yap, who had two missed free throws with 2.5 seconds left, went on to average 16.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in the best-of-five series to earn his fourth Finals MVP award. His 29 points were his highest output in the last four championships that the Mixers won.
San Mig led by as many as 16 points early in the third period but was dragged into a nip-and-tuck game by the Elasto Painters heading into the fourth.
The game was undecided until the literal final buzzer, when Rain or Shine import Arizona Reid threw up the potential game-tying triple a tad short.
“They just came at us and came at us,” Cone said in paying tribute to the Painters. “I have been telling my players that this (Rain or Shine) team wasn’t going to crack. They fought us to the very end.”
It was the fourth straight championship for the Mixers and sixth ever since Cone took over at the start of the 2011 season. The franchise has now won 13 titles, tying Crispa for the fourth-most all-time.
Marqus Blakely scored 20 points, had 16 rebounds and eight assists, giving the Mixers the boost that they needed to counter the production of Reid, who played with an injured right ankle but almost carried the Painters through.
Reid was in and out of the game, but let it all hang out late in the third period as he almost single-handedly rallied the Painters from a 53-69 deficit to within just three points entering the fourth quarter.
Rain or Shine, after Yap and Mark Barroca missed a pair of free throws each, actually had five chances to tie the game — two coming from Reid, two from Paul Lee and the other from Jeff Chan — only to blow them all as if this championship wasn’t meant for them.
Reid finished with 23 points, 19 of them in the second half, while Lee, who made his first three triple shots, wound up with 21 and was scoreless in the fourth period.
San Mig thus joined an elite list that counts Crispa, San Miguel and Alaska as the only franchises to ever complete a Triple Crown sweep, with Cone adding to his legacy as one of the greatest modern day minds on the bench with his second Grand Slam.
“I’m going to go home first, go into a quiet room and let this sink in,” he said. “Again, I just thought that this wasn’t possible anymore.”
In related developments, Talk 'N Text and Meralco will be handled by new coaches when the 40th Season opens on Oct. 19.
Jong Uichico, who won eight championships coaching two San Miguel-owned squads before the turn of the decade, was named to succeed Norman Black at Talk 'N Text, with Black now to handle the Bolts.
Ryan Gregorio, who was at the helm of the Meralco program in its first four years in the league, will be without a team for the first time in decades as he was asked to concentrate fully on his corporate functions with the company.
A third team by the Manny V. Pangilinan Group of Companies, NLEX, will name its coach later this week, though talk has been very loud that the Road Warriors will be handled by Boyet Fernandez.
Fernandez handled the Road Warriors in their glorious D-League stint where they won six of the first seven championships staked with players like pro stars Greg Slaughter, Calvin Abueva and Ian Sangalang.
The only thing standing in the way of Fernandez’ coaching stint in the PBA is the league rule that no head coach can handle any team outside of the PBA. Fernandez is the head coach of San Beda in the NCAA where the Red Lions are gunning to win a fifth straight title this season.