Sting of finals loss fuels San Miguel’s drive to another All-Filipino title

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel is a team that rarely loses in the finals.

For the past five years, the Beermen has gone 6-1 record in the finals in an incredible feat, with their lone title series loss coming in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup against Barangay Ginebra.

They have a chance to ease the bitter feeling of a finals loss as San Miguel booked a return to the Philippine Cup final for the fifth straight year after closing out Phoenix in five games.

Remembering what it feels like to be on the losing side of a championship series, San Miguel guard Chris Ross said they’re hell-bent on going all out in the finals of the All-Filipino conference.

“We just want to get back to our winning ways,” said Ross Thursday at Cuneta Astrodome. “I told the guys, ‘remember how this feels [the loss to Ginebra], remember how defeat feels.’”

“When we get back to the finals, we don’t want to feel that again.”

Ross, who finished with 18 points, four assists, and six steals, added that it’s the loss to the Gin Kings that will ultimately fuel them to claim an unprecedented fifth straight Philippine Cup.

No other team in PBA history has won five straight conference championships with only San Miguel and Alaska during the Governors’ Cups from 1994 to 1997 getting a four-peat.

“I told them, ‘just remember how this feels,’” said Ross. “The next time we get to a championship, we’ll remember that feeling and we’ll play even harder to try to get those wins.”