MANILA, 24 July 2006 — In less than an hour after the buzzer sounded for the final time in the PBA Philippine Cup, Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio was able to rattle off the congratulatory remarks, praise the people he needed to, and declare his team ready to go back-to-back.
Just a few moments after drying off, fixing his hair and getting the tremble out of his voice, the 34-year-old mentor said there was nothing else to look forward to — and aim for — but win an all-Filipino crown two straight times — something which has not happened in 21 years.
“My players are just going to reach the primes of their careers,” Gregorio said. “The core of this team is quite young and the veterans that we have are all in great shape. I think it is fair for me to say that we have a solid shot.”
Not since the defunct Great Taste squad has a team repeated as champions in an all-Filipino tournament.
That team, backstopped by the great Ricardo Brown, won two straight titles in 1985, and that achievement has been left untouched even with the great teams like San Miguel and Alaska establishing their respective dynasties later.
Purefoods won the Philippine Cup over a hard-fighting Red Bull squad, 4-2, doing it without a legitimate center and two key players injured — one so bad that he will be riding a wheelchair the rest of his life.
Gregorio pulled a rabbit out of his hat in hard-working Marc Pingris, the third overall pick by Air21 in the 2004 Rookie Draft who performed like a seasoned star.
Pingris is one of two Purefoods players romantically linked to a local actress, but the market vendor’s son from Pangasinan performed so well that he established himself as a star bigger than his rumored fiancee.
Fact is, Pingris was the overwhelming choice by the covering media as the Finals MVP, winning by a large margin over Kerby Raymundo and James Yap, the season MVP who married actress-host Kris Aquino recently.
Standing a shade under 6-feet-4, Pingris, who was shipped by the Express to Purefoods at the start of the year, averaged 3.3 swats and 12 rebounds in the Finals for the Giants, staggering numbers that made a lot of difference.
Jondan Salvador, the fourth selection overall in the last rookie pool, tore his right ACL and was declared out for the rest of the season midway through the Fiesta Conference.
It was the call the Pingris was waiting for, and one he did not waste.
And Gregorio just sounded upbeat at the prospect of Salvador rejoining the team when the next season unfolds in late September or early October, for Purefoods will then have one of the most menacing frontlines in the league.
The next season opens with another all-Filipino format and Jun Limpot, a grizzled veteran at 34 who cried unabashedly after earning the first championship of his 13 year career, suddenly has a shot at winning another.
Picked first overall in 1993 and widely regarded as potentially one of the greatest franchise players ever to come out of the Draft in years, Limpot has labored hard in his first 12 years with no championship ring to show.
“I feel that I still have the skill to play against the younger guys and become a contributor in this team,” Limpot told Arab News, dispelling rumors that he was ready to hang his sneakers and call it a career.
“Retirement is farthest from my mind,” Limpot added. “We will all get there (retirement), but at this point, I want another (championship). I haven’t felt this great in quite a long while and I’m enjoying it.”
