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    These PBA teams came oh so close to a grand slam

    The ones that fell short
    Apr 24, 2020

    WINNING a Grand Slam in the PBA is perhaps one of the most difficult achievements to realize in the league. In the 45 years of the PBA, a Grand Slam has been won five times – Crispa (twice), San Miguel, Alaska, and San Mig Coffee.

    Also in the history of the league, there were also teams which came agonizingly close to winning a Grand Slam only to fall short in the end. Here’s a look at those teams who came the closest in entering the PBA record books.

    Toyota (1975)

    This ballclub nearly became the first-ever Grand Slam winner in the PBA after Toyota captured the First Conference and Second Conference plums in the first-ever season of the league. The Comets went into the championship of the All-Philippine Cup with another clash against Crispa, the same team they defeated in the first two conferences.

    Toyota surged to 1-0 lead, but Crispa was able to win the next two games to move a victory from clinching the best-of-five affair following Bogs Adornado’s 24-point effort to give the Redmanizers a 101-93 win. The Comets, however, forced a rubber match after a nailbiting 79-77 win.

    Come Game Five, however, Toyota went home disappointed after Adornado fired 18 points including seven in the final period to lift Crispa to a 96-91 victory in the decider.

    Toyota never again came in contention for a grand slam after the 1975 failure, with its archrival Crispa doing the feat for the first time the following year, and again in 1983.

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    Crispa (1977)

    The Redmanizers could have won three grand slams in their historic PBA foray, but the Toyota Tamaraws avenged their 1975 failure by capturing the 1977 Invitational Championship. Even though the title victory was at the expense of Emtex Brazil, the Tamaraws got one over the Redmanizers, 119-108, behind the 42 points of import John Irving and the steady play of Francis Arnaiz, who wound up with 26 in the game.

    Crispa bagged the third place instead in that Invitational conference.

    Great Taste (1985)

    After winning the last two conferences of the 1984 season, the Coffee Makers coached by former Crispa mentor Baby Dalupan and led by Ricardo Brown amassed the Open and All-Filipino Cup titles to put themselves in position to win a grand slam. Great Taste, however, barely made it to the semifinals, and was eventually defeated by Northern Consolidated, 123-107, in a playoff for a finals berth.

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    The Coffee Makers were swept by Ginebra in the best-of-seven battle-for-third.

    Tanduay (1986)

    Head coach Turo Valenzona and Ramon Fernandez towed the Rhum Masters to the Reinforced and All-Filipino Cup crowns in defeating Great Taste and Ginebra in the first two conferences of the 1986 season.

    Tanduay though limped its way to the Open Conference semifinals, but only had one win to show out of the five games in that round, allowing Ginebra and Manila Beer to collide for the championship. The Rhum Masters only placed fourth, losing to Great Taste in the third-place series.

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    Sunkist (1995)

    In 1995, Sunkist led by Vergel Meneses and reinforced by Nelson Asaytono, Rookie of the Year Boybits Victoria, among several others, to victories over Alaska in the All-Filipino and Commissioner’s Cup finals. The Juicers looked on their way to a grand slam after topping the elimination round, only to struggle in the semifinals were they failed to barge into the top two or even the five-out-of-eight incentive that would have earned them a playoff match for the finals.

    Ironically, it was Sunkist’s nemesis in the first two finals of the 1995 season in Alaska which won the Governors’ Cup after edging San Miguel in seven games of the series. The Milkman later claimed a grand slam in 1996, and the Mighty Meaties never came close to reaching the finals until the franchise was sold.

    Alaska (1998)

    Looking back, Alaska could have also won two grand slams in its franchise. The Milkmen took the All-Filipino and Commissioner’s Cup titles again in 1998, winning on those occasions against San Miguel in grind-out series.

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    However, 1998 was also the year Alaska coach Tim Cone was the Centennial Team head coach that competed in the Asian Games in Bangkok that year. With Cone as well as the core of the Alaska team answering to the call of flag and country, the Milkmen had a depleted roster even with the presence of Sean Chambers and the team missed out on the playoffs of the special Centennial Cup tournament and the regular Governors’ Cup conference.

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    Talk ‘N Text (2010-2011)

    This batch of Tropang Texters was perhaps one of the closest ever to win a grand slam. Unlike some of the teams earlier mentioned, Talk ‘N Text came back to play in the Governors’ Cup finals where it faced Petron (now San Miguel).

    The Chot Reyes-mentored squad backstopped by import Maurice Baker, Jimmy Alapag, Ali Peek, and Jayson Castro raced to a 2-1 series lead following a 132-105 runaway win. But the Ato Agustin-coached Petron squad rallied to win two of the next three matches to force into Game Seven.

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    Arwind Santos though performed his best at the most important time of the series after tallying 16 points and 16 rebounds on his way to winning the finals MVP. The late Anthony Grundy also towed Petron with 26 points to stun Talk ‘N Text, 85-73.

    San Miguel (2016-2017)

    It was around this time that San Miguel started showing its might above everybody in the PBA. The Beermen claimed titles in the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup on the strength of championships at the expense of Barangay Ginebra and TNT.

    But import changes that began after their first import Wendell McKines was ineffective marred their Governors’ Cup campaign and the Beermen only placed sixth in the elimination round and were beaten by Barangay Ginebra in the quarterfinals.

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      San Miguel (2019)

      Another promising season for the Beermen that didn’t result in a Grand Slam. San Miguel was faced again with import issues with prolific scorer Dez Wells sent home after a fight in practice that also involved Arwind Santos, Ronald Tubid, and Kelly Nabong. The Beermen were also eliminated by Barangay Ginebra in the Governors’ Cup.

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