San Mig Coffee put an exclamation point to the 39th Season of the Philippine Basketball Association by completing a Triple Crown sweep, just the fifth in league history that made Tim Cone the only man to pull it off twice.

There were many side stories that got drowned in the enormity of the accomplishment of the Mixers and Cone that some of them never saw print in a big way. They were just like sound bytes but could have been blown up had it not been for what San Mig did.

James Yap, for instance, played the series of his life in that best-of-five Finals with the Elasto Painters but almost became the goat for two missed free throws with 25 seconds left which could have put the game away earlier than the Mixers did.

The former two-time MVP came into the press room upon requests of the scribes after the celebration on the court, his championship shorts and cap drenched in a combination of sweat and bubbly.

Yap, just like Cone, said he was blessed with what had happened. He knows where he stands in the league right now and that his legacy is cemented forever.

The 6-foot-2 gunslinger was named Finals MVP for the fourth time in his career, his 29 points in Game 5 were his most in a title series game in the last six championships of the Mixers.

He was happy, of course. Who wouldn’t be? But his mood changed a bit when someone asked him about those two free throws.

“Mahirap talaga yun,” Yap said, though looking at no one. “Basta ako, tinira ko nang maayos yung free throws na yun, ngayon, kung hindi pumasok, wala na akong pakialam. Basta alam ko sa loob ko, ginawa ko kaya ko.”

Had Rain or Shine levelled the count at the end of regulation and the game went into overtime and the Mixers lost, those two missed free throws would have been a big part of the story.

But the fact was Yap, just like everyone on the court that night, was only human. And asking him something like that was certainly uncalled for.

Still, like the calmness he shows on the court even in the biggest of games, Yap kept his poise. He answered a few more questions after that and never begged to be excused. He left only when the ‘sportswriting elders’ told him that he could.

And to me, that is the sign of a great man, a great professional and a great human being who can certainly be called a superstar.

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Another thing that went practically unnoticed was the coaching rigodon that happened at the PLDT camp, where Norman Black, the Grand Slam-winning coach with San Miguel in 1989, has been transferred to Meralco to be in charge of rejuvenating the Bolts.

Ryan Gregorio, meanwhile, after being in charge of the entire Meralco basketball program in its first four years in the league, has been relieved and will take on his corporate position in the company full time.

Gregorio will be out of the PBA for the first time in more than a decade, probably. He had a colorful career with Purefoods, now San Mig, before he made the jump to the PLDT camp in 2010 when Meralco was given league membership.

But you can bet that he will be back. Good guys always come back.

With Black being given another job, the burden to take Talk 'N Text back to the top was given to Jong Uichico, another multi-titled coach who won eight career titles while coaching San Miguel Corporation teams.

Jong is another nice guy who deserves a second shot, just like what I can see Gregorio will have in a couple of years.

Uichico last held a coaching position in 2009 when he steered Ginebra San Miguel to a second place finish in the Governors’ Cup before he was asked by management to be a ‘co-coach’ with Siot Tanquingcen at the start of the following season.

That obviously did not sit well with Uichico, who decided to join Gregorio as an assistant with Meralco in the Bolts’ first season in the PBA.

A third PLDT Group of Companies team, newcomer NLEX, will reportedly be handled by Boyet Fernandez, the Road Warriors’ coach in the D-League pending the resolution of some issues with San Beda, an NCAA team which is also being funded by Manny V. Pangilinan.

The PBA has strict rules about its head coaches calling the shots in other leagues, and this is the only thing that is preventing the MVP group from naming Fernandez to the post at the moment.

San Beda is eyeing a fifth straight NCAA title, and it wouldn’t be wise to disrupt the Red Lions at this point.

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This basketball-crazed nation doesn’t get a break from hoop action even with the PBA to open its next season on Oct. 19.

The collegiate season has started with the opening of the NCAA two weeks ago and the UAAP tomorrow.

Not only that, Gilas Pilipinas is now in Wuhan, China, to campaign in the Fiba-Asia Cup as it toughens up for the World Cup in Spain starting Aug. 30 and then the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea early in September.

Coach Chot Reyes said prior to leaving last Thursday that they will be using the tournament to again give his players the chance to get to know each other.

Reyes even brought in some substitute players after he gave permission to Marc Pingris, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, Jason Castro, Jimmy Alapag and Larry Fonacier to not join the trip and rest their tired limbs.

Reyes is timing the training of the Nationals so that they could peak at the right time.

Andray Blatche, the country’s newest naturalized center, is also not in China as Marcus Douthit reprises his role as the starting center.

But Blatche will join Gilas in the United States, in Miami, where they will train from late this month, and then in Europe for several small tournaments before going to Spain for the World Cup.