Brandishing the killers’ instinct that all but doubled the talent of the powerhouse team, San Miguel on Sunday night ripped TNT KaTropa to shreds, 115-91, in Game 6 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The mighty Beermen broke away in the second period and never looked back. They had the game under wraps as early as the third canto on the way to overcoming their frustrations of the last two seasons here with a 4-2 victory in the best-of-seven series.
More importantly, this batch of Beermen lined itself up for a shot at the Triple Crown which, if completed, will be the franchise’s second after first pulling it off in 1989 with a similarly star-studded team built around the best center at that time, the legendary Ramon Fernandez.
“I will tell my team to celebrate and then let’s plan again for the next conference,” Austria said. “Everyone wants that championship and you know what I mean (the Grand Slam).”
The Beermen, though, won this series without relying too heavily on the 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo, riding the talent of two crack point guards, one of them winning the Best Player of the Conference award two games before and the other running away with the Finals MVP trophy.
Alex Cabagnot scored 19 points, had 12 rebounds and 11 assists and became the first local player to complete a triple double in a title series game since Willie Miller of Talk ‘N Text in the 2005 Philippine Cup as he put the icing on the PBA Press Corps-Cignal Finals MVP citation.
Cabagnot averaged 20.3 points, eight rebounds and 5.8 assists in the Finals.
Charles Rhodes had 30 points and Marcio Lassiter 24 in leading three others with twin digits for San Miguel, counting Chris Ross, the BPC who finished with 14.
The season-ending Governors’ Cup starts on July 19 with the Beermen already coming to terms with Wendell McKines as they gun for the sweet treble that sister team San Mig Coffee last completed in 2014 under Tim Cone.