San Miguel Beer has been the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) all-Filipino powerhouse for more than a decade after capturing the last two Philippine Cup titles, three of the last four, and an incredible eight of the last 11.

That is a level of all-Filipino dominance that even the legendary Crispa, Toyota, Great Taste and Alaska dynasties of the past never achieved. With a proven championship blueprint — including a Grand Slam in 1989 and another by sister team San Mig Coffee in 2013-14 — one would think another sweep of all three conferences should already be within reach.

But that has not been the case.

After winning the Commissioner’s Cup in 2024, San Miguel has failed to even reach the semifinals in the last two editions of that conference. The drought is even longer in the Governors’ Cup, where the Beermen have not returned to the Finals for more than a decade, or since winning the title in 2015.

As the PBA50 Governors’ Cup tips off on 10 July, San Miguel appears determined to erase those disappointments — perhaps even fueled by a desire for vindication.

Already the league’s second-highest scoring team in the recent Commissioner’s Cup at 106.3 points per game, trailing only Rain or Shine’s 109.4, the Beermen seem intent on taking their offense to another level.

After all, basketball is still decided by one simple truth: the team that scores more points wins.

That philosophy is evident in San Miguel’s acquisition of Jerrick Ahanmisi, who led all local players in scoring last conference with 21.3 points per game for Terrafirma. Joining him is Paolo Hernandez, the Dyip’s second-leading local scorer at 9.8 points.

The two were acquired on 2 June in exchange for Juami Tiongson, rookie Chris Miller, and San Miguel Beer’s second-round pick in the 52nd Season Rookie Draft.

As if that weren’t enough, the Beermen also signed George King as their Governors’ Cup import. Last season, King topped all players in scoring, averaging 36.9 points in 17 games over two conferences for Blackwater.

They now join a San Miguel core that already featured four double-digit scorers in the Commissioner’s Cup — CJ Perez (19.0), nine-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo (16.5), Don Trollano (14.7) and super-sub Jericho Cruz (10.0).

Is San Miguel planning to overwhelm opponents by averaging 130 points a game?

Theoretically, King, Ahanmisi, Perez, Fajardo and Trollano alone could combine for 98.2 points. Add the Beermen’s 36.4 bench points per game from the previous conference, and the total reaches 134.6.

Of course, that’s only on paper. Potential still has to become production.

In the last conference, San Miguel was just one or two victories away from securing a top four finish and the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarters. Upset losses in the elims to Titan Ultra and Blackwater proved costly, while lopsided defeats to TNT and Magnolia may have dented the team’s confidence. Those setbacks left the Beermen with a twice-to-win disadvantage against Rain or Shine in the quarterfinals — perhaps too much to overcome despite being the defending Philippine Cup champions.

The formula is simple: take care of the games you’re expected to win, then give yourself a fighting chance against the league’s elite. Once in the playoffs, San Miguel’s championship pedigree and experience can take over.

First things first. That’s how they have built their Philippine Cup dynasty.

But they must also remember that championships are decided not by how a team starts a conference — but by how it finishes because based on recent league history, “Introvoys” teams rarely win championships.

But that’s already another story — perhaps for a future column.