Inquirer 7: Best moments in Philippine basketball in 2017

As 2017 comes to a close, Inquirer takes a look back at the best sporting moments in the Philippines and to start the reminiscing, let’s talk about the one sport Filipinos absolutely adore.

It was an eventful year for Philippine basketball. Battles were won on and off the court, from the collegiate ranks to the international hoops scene.

1. San Miguel gets the Philippine Cup three-peat and the season double

Fajardo lifts PBA Philippine Cup trophy as Beermen celebrate another crown. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

For three years, San Miguel has been on the Grand Slam conversation and the 2016-2017 season was the closest the Beermen got to accomplishing the feat.

The winningest club in PBA history added a glorious double in its stacked trophy cabinet when it won the Philippine and Commissioner’s Cups, making the Beermen the owners of 24 total championships.

San Miguel’s dominance in the PBA coincided with the equally impressive individual haul of the league’s most commanding presence in June Mar Fajardo who won his fourth straight MVP plum.

Fajardo joined an exclusive club with legends Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patriomonio with four MVP trophies to their name but it was only the 6-foot-10 giant who did the feat in straight years.

2. Ginebra wins back-to-back Governors’ Cup crowns

What’s the best chaser to snapping an eight-year title drought? Retaining the championship the very next season.

Barangay Ginebra’s Governors’ Cup triumph in 2016 ended its dirge and the title cemented the Gin Kings’ reputation as once again being an elite club in the PBA.

And the second championship was even more memorable for the Gin Kings when they won 101-96 in Game 7 against Meralco in front of a record 54,086 fans.

3. Blue Eagles go soaring

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Ateneo and La Salle has always been fierce rivals, and things reached dramatic levels in the championship round of the 80th season of the UAAP.

In the last game of the three-game series, the Blue Eagles held an 82-80 lead, a no safe barrier, with exactly 48.9 seconds left.

Isaac Go proved to be the hero Ateneo needed as the unassuming center knocked down the biggest shot of his career.

He received a pass from Thirdy Ravena and shot the triple that, Go said, St. Francis Xavier blessed for Ateneo’s 85-80 lead with 24.7 seconds left.

Ateneo went on to seal the title with a 88-86 win after Andrei Caracut beat the buzzer with a three-pointer, and Go’s shot would forever be immortalized in college basketball lore.

4. Red Lions roar again

In Season, 93 the Red Lions proved once more that they really are the true kings of the NCAA..

Facing off against an immaculate Lyceum that hadn’t lost in four months, the Red Lions showed the 18-0 Pirates why the Finals will always belong to them.

The 16-2 Red Lions, whose only losses in the eliminations were against the Pirates, won two straight in the Finals and showed their might especially in the second game.

After three tight quarters and going into the fourth down 66-65, San Beda outscored Lyceum 27-16 to complete the sweep 92-82 and claim its league-leading 21st championship.

5. Pirates find perfection in NCAA

Lyceum has had the misfortune of being labeled as afterthoughts in the NCAA when it entered the league in 2011.

From Season 87, the Pirates won just 35 games and lost 73 with their best year coming in Season 89 when they went 8-10.

Head coach Topex Robinson, who was on his third year with Lyceum in Season 93, finally saw his vision come to fruition when the Pirates won all 18 of their elimination round games.

And although Lyceum ultimately lost in the Finals against San Beda, the 18-0 card was the first time in NCAA history that the feat was recorded.

6. Seaba and SEA Games triumph

FILE – Gilas’ Kiefer Ravena drives against Singapore during their game in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games at MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Philippines has always been the ruling party in Southeast Asian basketball, and it was once more proven in 2017.

First was in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championship, or the Seaba Championships, in May wherein the Philippines just flat out dominated.

Overkill is the perfect word to describe what Gilas did to the completion in the Seaba Championships after winning all six games by an average of 58.33 points, with the largest margin of victory coming in the 147-40 annihilation of Myanmar.

Up next was the Southeast Asian Games in August when the Philippines scored its record 17th gold medal.

Put into context, only the Philippines and Malaysia won gold in the SEA Games and the Malaysians have only two golds in their name.

7. Philippines wins World Cup hosting

(FROM L-R) SBP Executives: Vice chair Robbie Puno, president Al Panlilio, Manny V. Pangilinan, Foreign affairs secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

It may still be six years from now, but the Philippines is already gearing up for its biggest basketball spectacle.

Fiba, the world governing body of basketball, announced in 2017 that the Philippines together with Japan and Indonesia would be hosting the 2023 Fiba World Cup.

Gilas head coach Chot Reyes likened the event to the Papal visit of Pope Francis back in 2015 and Manny V. Pangilinan, the chairman emeritus of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, said the three-nation hosting arrangement will further “spread the basketball fever.”