The dust has barely settled on the TNT Tropang Giga’s Commissioner’s Cup title run, but already Chot Reyes is being asked about leading his team to the ultimate prize: a PBA grand slam.
In the 50-year history of the PBA, only five teams have achieved a grand slam, or winning all three conferences in the same season. The members of this exclusive club are the 1976 and 1983 Crispa Redmanizers, the 1989 San Miguel Beermen, the 1996 Alaska Milkmen, and the 2014 San Mig Coffee Mixers.
Six times a team won the first two conferences, only to fall short in the third: the 1975 Toyota Comets, the 1985 Great Taste Coffeemakers, the 1986 Tanduay Rhum Masters, the 1995 Sunkist Orange Juicers, the 1998 Alaska Milkmen and the 2010-11 Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters.
The last of that group, the Tropang Texters, missed out on a grand slam in the most painful way imaginable: a Game 7 loss to the Petron Blaze Boosters (now the San Miguel Beermen).
The coach of that almost-grand slam team? None other than Chot Reyes. Now, Reyes finds himself once again in position to lead the TNT franchise to a grand slam after the Tropang Giga bagged the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup title on Friday night.
But perhaps because of what happened in 2011, Chot Reyes would like to avoid any talk about a potential grand slam, which they can achieve by winning the Philippine Cup that is set to start on April 4.
“No, please,” he answered with a laugh when asked about the “G” word. “I guess it couldn’t be avoided at this point, right? And I hope this is the last time you ask me about it. But yeah, I acknowledge that fact now. There’s going to be tremendous pressure on us.
“There’s going to be a huge target on our backs, of course. Eleven other teams are going to do their darndest best to stop us. And as you can see, we don’t really have the best talent. We really don’t have the deepest bench. But there’s something in our players. They just refuse to quit.
“That’s what we’re going to bring into this next conference. Because I’ve learned all through my life that if you work hard, you put yourself in a good chance that good things will happen. It’s not a guarantee, but at least you put yourself in a good position. And that’s what we’ve done. With this victory, we have put ourselves in that position.
“So you can bet that we’re going to come out and work even harder. And try our best. Not necessarily to capture the Grand Slam, but because there’s another tournament, another competition in front of us. And that’s what we’re going to aim for.”
One man on the TNT bench who does know a thing or two about winning a grand slam is team manager Jojo Lastimosa, who was the starting shooting guard of that 1996 Alaska grand slam team.
Lastimosa said that a team needs all the right ingredients before they can even think about winning one title, let alone three in a row.
“How many teams have had an opportunity to actually win a Grand Slam? Imagine winning one is difficult. Getting into a finals is difficult. Winning two in a row is difficult enough. Winning three in a row? That’s a special team. That’s a special team.
“Of course you have to have talent first, and then the talent, they have to mesh together. They have to have some sort of teamwork, togetherness. Kasi isipin mo naman ang lineup namin kumpara sa Ginebra.”
The Tropang Giga, though, enter the Philippine Cup for the first time this season without leader Jayson Castro Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Knowing this, Lastimosa said they will work on improving their current line-up.
“You have to factor in a lot. Rondae has been a big factor sa run namin, yung back to back. There’s going to be a big void. We’re hoping that Henry (Galinato) can fill up, and Brandon (Ganuelas-Rosser) will fill up when he’s healthy. And Henry and the other big guys will be healthy.”
With Castro out, Lastimosa said they will look to shore up their point guard rotation.
“We have to start with the point guard. I mean, it’s so obvious. Our guards, Brian (Heruela) and Jiello (Razon), they’re not used to that kind of grind in the playoffs. And you need to score. You need scorers. So, definitely, we’re going to look for guards that will score. But those guys, Brian and Jiello, we need them. In a way, they make the other guys better in practice.”
The Tropang Giga will take a break before resuming practice at Inspire Academy in Laguna, where they will begin preparing to capture that final jewel in the grand slam crown. But for now, Chot Reyes doesn’t want to hear any talk of the “G” word.
“I don’t think we can escape talk of it. But right now, we just want to enjoy this first and savor this. It took so much out of us, we’re absolutely drained. So we need to rest and recover, and then we can think of the All-Filipino.”
Banner images from PBA Media Bureau.