LOVE him or hate him, you have to concede that Vincent 'Chot' Reyes is one of the brilliant coaching minds in the country.
He has the championships and accolades to prove it: 10 PBA championships with Purefoods, Coca Cola, and TNT; a record six Coach of the Year awards from the PBA Press Corps, and historic feats as Gilas Pilipinas coach.
But if there's one accomplishment glaringly missing from Reyes' resume, it is a grand slam - a feat only five teams and four coaches have accomplished, namely the late Baby Dalupan, Tommy Manotoc, Norman Black, and Tim Cone (twice).
READ These teams came oh so close to a grand slam
Reyes is on the wrong side of history by this same standard, his TNT team being one of 10 squads in the pro league's 49-year history to win the first two conferences of a season, only to come up short of a hat-trick in the final conference.
That happened in the 2010-2011 season when the Texters won the Philippine Cup by beating San Miguel in the finals, 4-2, and beat Ginebra, 4-2, in the Commissioner's Cup Finals, only to lose to a Petron side (now SMB) coached by Ato Agustin and led by Arwind Santos in the Game 7 of the Governors' Cup title series.
Fourteen years later, Reyes, who led TNT to the championship of the season-opening Governors' Cup at the expense of Ginebra in the finals, remained on track for another treble after the Tropang Giga beat the Kings, 87-83, on Wednesday night to force a deciding Game 7 in the Commissioner's Cup Finals.
Is the elusive grand slam in his mind right now?
"Nope. Not at all," said Reyes. He insisted that that he stopped thinking about a career grand slam when he 'retired' from the PBA to take on the Gilas Pilipinas coaching duties and never entertained thoughts about it since.
"I stopped thinking about it when I retired & never thought about it since," Chot said.
But whether he likes it or not, Reyes and his Tropang Giga will have to face questions about a grand slam if they beat Ginebra in Game 7 on Friday night - or dwell on another chance at a hat-trick that got away if they lose.
So which one would it be? Abangan.
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