Coca-Cola may no longer be in the Philippine Basketball Association, but it will go down as the luckiest team to play on Christmas Day.
JB Baylon, who was the team governor of the Tigers at that time, vividly recalled the joy that the Yuletide battle gave them when they won over Alaska to clinch the 2002 All-Filipino Conference title.
Baylon said despite losing veterans Johnny Abarrientos and Jefferey Cariaso to injuries, they still defied great odds and a powerhouse Alaska squad to book a 78-63 in Game 4 that gave the franchise its first ever PBA title.
“The Christmas game was special. When Raffy (Reavis) hit a buzzer beater from almost half court, I knew the game was ours,” Baylon, now the Vice President for Corporate Communications of Nickel Asia Corporation, told Daily Tribune in an online exchange.
With Abarrientos and Cariaso gone, the Tigers banked on Reavis, who spearheaded a huge third-quarter attack with three three-pointers, including a buzzer-beater that gave them a 59-47 lead entering the fourth canto.
Aside from Reavis, Ato Morano and Rudy Hatfield, who was eventually named Most Valuable Player of the Finals, also stepped up in their title-clinching victory.
Baylon believes that Coca-Cola, which was coached by Chot Reyes back then, found the right combination in forming a winning team right in its maiden season.
“It was a great mixture of veterans and newly drafted players like Leo (Avenido) and Jason (Misolas). We also had Ato and even Lowell Briones, if I remember right. Then you had Raffy, Rudy, Johnny and Jeffrey, plus Coach Chot, of course,” he added.
Baylon, who still monitors the PBA from time to time, said he considers their feat as the biggest and most memorable achievement ever done on Christmas Day.
“Well, I think it’s tops because it’s a championship, but the Powerade runner-up finish in 2011-2012 comes a very, very, close second,” said Baylon, referring to the dramatic run by Powerade in the Philippine Cup in which it shocked top seed B-Meg in the quarterfinals to coast all the way to the finals.
