Triumph over adversity

Renaldo Balkman also had his own mountains to scale. Chasing redemption, he is no longer the import who once choked his teammate. He is now a certified champion. —ASEANBASKETBALLLEAGUE.COM

STA. ROSA, Laguna—A campaign littered with adversity ended in a blaze of glory for San Miguel Alab Pilipinas on Wednesday night before one of the biggest crowds in Asean Basketball League Finals history at Sta. Rosa Multi Purpose Sports Complex.

A hard-earned 102-93 victory over Mono Vampire of Thailand in Game 5 capped an incredible journey for the Filipino club, whose members all had remarkable stories on their rise to the top of the regional league.

In his first major coaching stint, national team legend Jimmy Alapag got his validation, import Renaldo Balkman completed his road to redemption and Justin Brownlee continued his winning legacy in the Philippines.

More than underlining his status as a superstar with another season Most Valuable Player award and a Finals MVP trophy, Ray Parks also fulfilled his father’s wish of winning the title the late great Bobby Parks Jr. failed to pull off in 2012 as coach, while team owner Charlie Dy also got his reward for soldiering on when support was hard to come by.

Solid contributions

Role players like Pamboy Raymundo, Lawrence Domingo and Pao Javelona also boosted their stock after making solid contributions to a championship run that included big victories over defending champion Hong Kong Eastern in the semifinals.

“I’m just proud of this team,” said Alapag, while carrying son, Ian, during the postchampionship press conference.

“We were such a tight-knit group that when you do that, you give yourself an opportunity to win. Being with these guys, seeing the growth in all of them. Anytime you have a team like this, it isn’t just a team; it becomes a brotherhood, it becomes a family, that dynamic of a relationship changes.”

In the finals, Alab overcame a Mono squad that had 7-foot-5 Sam Deguara, sniper Mike Singletary and a couple of heady Filipino players in point guard Jason Brickman and Paul Zamar.

“It took our best effort tonight to beat Mono,” said Alapag, whose team managed a split in the Bangkok leg of the Finals to put themselves in a position to win at home.

Alapag recalled making two phone calls in December that altered the fate of Alab.

The first one was to former teammate LA Tenorio shortly after a sponsor backed out, which led to a meeting with San Miguel sports director Alfrancis Chua, who approved the sponsorship deal for Alab five games into the season.

The next one was to Balkman, whom he last crossed paths in the Fiba World Cup in Spain in 2014.

Man of his word

“[Balkman] told me, ‘Hey man, if you ever turn yourself into this coaching thing, you have my number,” said Alapag, recalling their conversation in the World Cup.

“He’s (Alapag) a man of his word,” said Balkman, who had 32 points and nine rebounds in the title-clinching win.

Balkman returned to the country five years after he was slapped with a lifetime ban in the PBA for choking a teammate. He has since apologized to former PBA commissioner Chito Salud and reconciled with ex-teammate Arwind Santos.

“Past is the past for me,” said Balkman. “I have a bright future. We have a championship. I told you since Day 1 that we are going to put on a show. Our focus was on one goal and that is to win the championship. Every day, we worked hard.”

Almost lost in the din of the celebration was Dy’s work behind the scenes. Already coming off a financially trying first stint as a team owner, Dy still insisted on going another round and committed to fielding a team anew.

From finding sponsors to putting together a competitive team, including the acquisition of Brownlee which was made possible because of his friendship with the import’s agent, Sheryl Reyes, Dy’s imprints were all over the title run.

“This (championship) makes everything worth it,” said Dy.