San Miguel aims for All-Filipino Cup history after failed Grand Slam bid

As its quest for a Grand Slam ended on Wednesday night, San Miguel Beer quickly shifted its focus on a different shot at history.

The Beermen now have their sights set on a fourth consecutive PBA Philippine Cup championship, a feat that has never been done before.

“We just have to move on. We’re going to bounce back next conference. We can still make history with four straight All-Filipino titles,” said June Mar Fajardo in Filipino after SMB got blown out by Barangay Ginebra in the 2017 Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.

READ: Ginebra thwarts San Miguel’s grand slam bid, enters semis

It was a painful exit for the Beermen, who suffered their worst loss of the season.

The setback, however, also put things in perspective for San Miguel.

“Just cause we don’t win the grand slam doesn’t mean we didn’t have a great year,” guard Chris Ross said. “We had a great year, we won two conferences, five out of nine championships, it’s not a failure.”

“Sometimes you fall short in life, sometimes it’s how you bounce back from shortcomings so I’m sure it will hurt, it hurts all of us in the locker room but there’s some smiles over there and we got something to play for in the All-Filipino is to win that conference four straight.”

READ: San Miguel ends Ginebra’s 7-game run 

Ross believes the title of being the best team in the PBA still belongs to the Beermen despite their early exit.

“We are the defending champions of the All-Filipino the last three years, we’ve been the best team in the PBA for the last three or four years” he said.

“Just cause we fell short today doesn’t mean we’re still not the best team. I think a lot of people think that we’re still the best team in the PBA regardless of our shortcomings this conference.”

The 32-year-old Ross, who was the Finals MVP in the 2017 Philippine Cup, said the team can’t wait to be back on the court.

“We’re eager to get going in the All-Filipino, we want to take a rest and rest our bodies because it’s a long year and we played more games by far than any team in the PBA so we need to rest our bodies, come back and defend our crown.”