Former PBA MVP Ato Agustin pricks Grand Slam bubble

MANILA—It was easy to sense the sincerity in Petron Blaze coach Ato Agustin when he said that he felt for Talk ‘N Text after its missed Grand Slam bid.

It was also obvious that guiding the Boosters to that win for the ages was something personal for him. Truly personal.

“Sayang (A big loss) for them,” Agustin told reporters after the celebrations for Petron’s PBA Governors’ Cup victory died down a bit on Sunday night, when he and his Boosters put the Tropang Texters in the wrong side of league history.

“I wanted this one to get back [at Talk  ‘N Text for beating San Miguel Beer, the former Petron team, for the Philippine Cup title], and winning [this one] was the most painful thing for them,” he continued. “It was all about heart for us. Our big heart carried us through.”

Then Agustin’s mood changed.

No debt of gratitude

His voice cracking, the usually soft-spoken son of Pampanga let it all out and blasted Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes for saying he owes him a debt of gratitude.

“I am sorry, but this is the only chance I have to air my side,” Agustin said  when asked if he had a message for Reyes.

“What is he saying, that he was the one who got me from somewhere in Pampanga, and that I owe him a debt of gratitude? He wasn’t the one who got me,” Agustin said.

“I don’t know what he was doing in Pampanga at that time, but I don’t owe him anything. I owe the chance to be able to play in Manila to coach Turo [Valenzona], who was the one who brought me here.”

It was a strongly worded statement, coming on the heels of one of the most memorable title series strategies carried out by a rookie PBA mentor.

And Reyes knew that slugging it out with Agustin in a word war was not the best idea at the moment.

‘Unknown from Pampanga’

“I never said I was the one who got him from Pampanga,” Reyes said in a text message. “I said as team manager of Fuji ‘one of the players we signed to a P3,000 salary a month was an unknown from Pampanga, Ato Agustin.’

“I never said May utang na loob siya sa akin (He owes me a debt of gratitude), so I don’t know what his beef is,” Reyes said. “Ayaw ko ng patulan, I don’t want to stoop that low. It’s over, they won. Congrats to them.”

Agustin pounded out a 4-3 title-series victory over Reyes and his crew by maximizing an 11-man lineup against the league’s most powerful roster on paper.

It was by no means a small feat, but one not big enough for the 1992 MVP to ignore what he thought were offensive statements by Reyes months before.

Whether they become friends again or otherwise, the fact remains that Petron just won probably the most significant championship for the San Miguel franchise in the last 20 years.

And whatever happens, Agustin—whether he wins another PBA championship or not—has cemented his place in PBA history, not only for a Grand Slam winner as a player with San Miguel in 1989, but also as the man who stopped another Triple Crown sweep from happening.