The Philippine Basketball Association has come up with yet another banner season with no less than Barangay Ginebra — the league’s most popular team — at the centerpiece of yet another blockbuster championship showdown.
Hosting the dangerous Dragons from Bay Area, the last foreign guest team to compete in PBA championship series in 43 years, the Game 7 of their much-awaited showdown drew a record 54,589 fans at the Philippine Arena. The Kings prevailed, 114-99.
Justin Brownlee and the Kings returned to the finals once again the following conference, but this time, their perfect championship run was snapped by a pair of emerging stars in import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Mikey Williams of the TNT Tropang Giga.
In their best-of-seven championship series of the Governors’ Cup, Hollis-Jefferson, Williams and the rest of Tropang Giga flaunted their might and completely ended Brownlee’s perfect finals record.
In six previous times, Brownlee had always been successful in propelling the Kings to the title, but Lucky Seven didn’t come just as expected in their finals encounter against the up and coming Tropang Giga.
The Kings showed up in Game 6 of the title series all poised to extend the showdown to a sudden death encounter, but Williams rose to the occasion.
The Filipino-American former National Basketball Association G League standout, who led TNT previously to a championship run in the Philippine Cup two seasons ago, unloaded a triple from 27 feet out that hit the backboard before going in to put the Tropang Giga ahead, 95-93, with 1:15 left in regulation.
In Ginebra’s next offensive thrust, it went to Brownlee, but couldn’t come up with the same endgame brilliance just like he did in the past. Brownlee lost control of the basketball, allowing the Tropang Giga to complete a stop.
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- daily tribune file photo BARANGAY Ginebra celebrates its conquest of the Bay Area Dragons in the Governors’ Cup.
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- daily tribune file photo TNT Tropang Giga finally returns to the limelight after stopping Barangay Ginebra in the season ending conference.
But he got another opportunity after the Tropang Giga failed to cash in on the next play, but once again, Brownlee was unable to deliver the basket his team needed the most.
Hollis-Jefferson wrapped up the win for TNT as he delivered two crucial free throws as he and the Tropang Giga ended the reign of Brownlee and the Gin Kings in the season-ending tournament.
A former star player of the Brooklyn Nets, Hollis-Jefferson emerged as the Best Import while Williams collected his second Finals Most Valuable Player award.
The key movements made by TNT late in the season also proved to be a crucial factor.
First, the Tropang Giga traded for the services of Calvin Oftana, who was acquired in a three-team, multi-player deal that also involved veteran forward Troy Rosario and then top overall rookie pick Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.
With Oftana, the Tropang Giga immediately found a rising star who would play the starting small forward spot.
TNT also made a bold move by tapping Jojo Lastimosa to play dual functions as head coach and team manager.
Lastimosa, a member of the league’s 25 Greatest Players, showed no signs of difficulty managing both roles as proven by the championship run he had with the franchise right in his maiden conference as concurrent head coach and manager.
If there are highlights at TNT, there would also be low moments as right before the start of the league’s new season, it decided to cut ties with Williams, who failed to show up once again during the training camp that prompted the management to decide not to include him in the roster.
Before Christmas, disaster struck TNT anew when Hollis-Jefferson had a bad fall during their 80-69 win over Taipei Fubon Braves in the East Asia Super League in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on 20 December.
Prior to Hollis-Jefferson’s incident, TNT was already riddled by sickness or injuries as Roger Pogoy had been sidelined for months due to a heart condition while big men Poy Erram and Justin Chua were still recovering from separate knee injuries.
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- PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of LA Tenorio/IG CANCER-stricken LA Tenorio receives well-wishers, including Justin Brownlee while undergoing treatment in Singapore.
Shock and inspiration
There’s no better example of the league’s dogged determination than LA Tenorio.
Tenorio, the league’s modern-day Ironman, saw his streak of number of games played halted at 744 when he suffered a “groin injury” during Game 3 of their quarterfinals showdown with Meralco in the Governors’ Cup last season.
Seeing the longest streak snapped was no big deal, but what’s even scarier was Tenorio’s condition.
In a hastily-called news briefing on 21 March, the former Ateneo de Manila University star announced that he has been diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.
“With my profession in sports tied to health and entertainment, it will be very difficult to keep the real reason a secret any longer and will only lead to unnecessary gossips, fake news and misinterpretations. I was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer,” Tenorio said in a statement.
Like a true Ironman that he is, Tenorio wasted no time trying to find a cure and make himself better.
With his family and Ginebra teammates rallying behind him, Tenorio flew to Singapore to receive treatment until his condition improved.
In fact, during the 19th Asian Games, he served as assistant coach of Tim Cone as a prelude to his looming PBA return.
Finally, he made a comeback on 4 December with family, friends and, yes, fans cheering for him and his heartwarming story of bouncing back from a life-threatening adversity.
Record-high of draftees
A total of 124 players applied for this year’s draft, the most number of hopefuls who joined the league since it was instituted in 1985, and 85 players were drafted.
In four of the last five seasons, Teraffirma owned the top overall pick, selecting 6-foot-3 Fil-Am Stephen Holt, as its No. 1 choice.
Terrafirma brought in a few more players, but only a few of them are seeing action in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup so far: Taylor Miller (12th), Kenmark Cariño (13th), and Louie Sangalang (22nd).
Rain or Shine emerged with two impactful players selected in the first round, Luis Villegas (third) and Keith Datu, then selected Adrian Nocum as the last pick in the second round.
Villegas, however, is still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered from last season’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines while playing for University of the East.
The Elasto Painters also had to wait for Nocum, who played for San Juan in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League playoffs but made an immediate impact when he played in the PBA.
So far, Datu and Nocum had been among the consistent-performing rookies.
The 6-foot-8 Datu averaged 13.25 points, 6.75 rebounds and two blocks per game while Nocum averaged close to nine points per game.
It was really another strong season for the PBA.
And the determination that Tenorio showed in battling the “Big C” inspired the rest of the league to do better in the years to come — on and off the playing court.
Daily tribune file photo
JUNE Mar Fajardo’s trophy collection welcomes another prized addition.
Seventh heaven
June Mar Fajardo also took the spotlight after bagging his seventh MVP award.
The 6-feet-10 Cebuano also saw action in the FIBA World Cup.
His seven MVP trophies is a league record.
