A milestone that never was

Winning the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) grand slam is destiny. But for the TNT franchise, it wasn’t meant to be.

The Tropang 5G suffered yet another sorry finish when it fell short of winning the Philippine Cup following a 107-96 loss to San Miguel Beer in Game 6 of their best-of-seven finals series.

The setback was such a massive heartbreak for the Tropang 5G as the Philippine Cup was the only crown missing from their collection of accolades this season. They had earlier ruled the Commissioner’s Cup and the Governors’ Cup with a prolific import in Rondae Hollis-Jefferson on board.

So, instead of joining elite teams like Crispa, San Miguel, Alaska and San Mig Coffee in the list of teams that had achieved the rare milestone, TNT will be reduced to a mere footnote as among the squads that were good enough to win a grand slam but couldn’t get the job done.

It wasn’t the first time TNT was on the wrong side of history.

In 2011, the squad found themselves on the brink of winning the grand slam until San Miguel, then known as Petron, suddenly waged a sizzling rally down the stretch to eke out a heartstopping 85-73 win in Game 7 of their Governors’ Cup best-of-seven finals series.

Worse, TNT had a high-powered roster composed of Ranidel de Ocampo, Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams, and Harvey Carey with Maurice Baker as import, but it still surrendered to the gritty Petron side of Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot, Denok Miranda, and Danny Ildefonso with import Adrian Grundy.

Fourteen years later, TNT fell short anew.

As if winning the grand slam wasn’t meant to be, TNT started the season-ending conference with its leader, Jayson Castro, in sick bay after undergoing right knee surgery to repair a ruptured patellar tendon that he sustained in Game 2 of the Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.

Then, the chips started to fall away. The injury bug hounded TNT all conference long with Rey Nambatac, Simon Enciso, Jordan Heading, Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy, Kelly Williams, and Poy Erram all nursing various injuries.

In fact, Erram, the primary defender to eight-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, even tried to play through a sprained ankle in Game 4 but he suffered a more serious meniscus tear that sidelined him in crucial Game 5.

Although Tropang 5G escaped with an 86-78 victory in Game 5, Erram’s absence defensively was greatly felt as Fajardo terrorized the paint with 24 points on a blistering 11 of 12 shooting from the field to go with 12 rebounds.

Later, Erram revealed that the MRI showed he had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury that would sideline him for almost a year.

You see, winning the grand slam isn’t only about basketball. It’s no longer just about the long preparations, fiery motivation, offensive executions, and defensive toughness. It’s also about luck.

TNT losing the grand slam doesn’t mean that it is not good enough to sit at the table with revered squads like Crispa, San Miguel, Alaska, and San Mig Coffee. It just so happened that these hard-fighting Tropa were not as fortunate as injuries got in the way of their bid to be elevated from being good to being great.

Take a bow, Tropang 5G. It was a good run. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.