RONALD Tubid insisted there’s no bittersweet feeling for him as San Miguel Beer captured the PBA Philippine Cup title after five hard-fought games against Barangay Ginebra.
The veteran wingman helped the Beermen register a third straight all-Filipino championship to take home the Jun Bernardino Perpetual Trophy for good – but it was at the expense of his former team.
“About Ginebra, sabi ko nga before, there’s always a special place for them in my heart, kasi I won two championships with Ginebra, pero ito na yung bahay ko ngayon. Ito yung team ko,” Tubid, who played six seasons with the Gin Kings, said.
“Masarap kasi Ginebra eh,” he added. “Every team wants to beat Ginebra dahil grabe nga yung crowd. It just happened na kami ang nakatalo sa kanila.”
The 35-year-old Tubid proved to be one of the shock troopers for the Beermen in the series along with Gabby Espinas and Yancy de Ocampo, forming a tight bench rotation to a formidable starting unit.
Tubid played his best game in Game Two where he fired four triples on the way to scoring 16 points, including 10 in the fourth and overtime periods, on top of seven boards and one assist in 27 minutes off the bench. The vintage performance just went for naught as the Beermen lost by six points.
“Sabi ng ni Yancy, in every success daw, there’s always a struggle, so pag nag-struggle kami, as veterans, kami yung stabilizer,” Tubid said. “Tsaka hindi naman magiging superstar yung mga teammates ko kung hindi nila pinaghirapan.”
“Kahit sa practice, pisikal kami, kaya nadadala namin sa game,” he added. “Kahit sino naman sa team namin, pwedeng ipasok eh.”
Now, they’re reaping the rewards of the hard work they put in.
“Nung dati, we were learning pa, bago pa ako dati, ang daming struggles eh, but we just kept working hard, lalo na ako, bagong salta lang ako that time. Kumbaga Petronovela eh, laging kapos, so sabi ko, it’s okay, ganun talaga pag nagtatanim ka.”
“Pagka time ng harvest na, ayun na,” he concluded.