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    COLUMN: Is SMC dominance coming to an end? Don't hold your breath

    In a Predictable Basketball Association, it ain't hard to guess which team is winning a championship next
    Sep 9, 2021
    PHOTO: PBA Images
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - While I've always maintained that social media is a poison well, on some days it can be a bottomless source of lighthearted hilarity.

    And for many loyal readers who inundate our Facebook and Twitter platforms with their thoughts, threats and theories, the PBA acronym is a favored punching bag for comic relief.

    "Paliga ni Boss Alfrancis," said one. "Panis Basketball Association," chimed another.

    Well, I got one, too.

    Predictable Basketball Association.

    Mine, though, isn't a weak jab meant for cheap laughs. It's simply a strong dose of reality.

    Of the 10 conferences that have been competed in the PBA from 2016 to 2020, San Miguel Beer won five championships. Ginebra is second with four while Magnolia licked the one leftover crumb.

    Ginebra champion

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    All three teams, owned by the same corporation, are 10-for-10 in that span. And if you peel back time further down to the 2013-14 season you will discover that SMC claimed its second grand slam during that cycle via San Mig Coffee.

    The dominance of SMC is breathtaking.

    Sadly, it has also taken away our breaths of excitement and has made the league as formulaic as an action B-movie where Sylvester Stallone, licks and all, always triumphs in the end.

    So when TNT raced to a 6-0 start, I didn't as much as bat an eyelash.

    UNPROVEN RECORD. The Tropang Giga had built their streak by walking over Phoenix, Meralco, Blackwater, Rain or Shine and Magnolia, twice.

    But they haven't yet played the mother ship - San Miguel Beer - and when they did it did not end well for the marquee squad of the esteemed MVP Group.

    Hindsight is 20-20, but I saw this coming.

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    San Miguel is an All-Star team and June Mar Fajardo is an import masquerading as a local.

    The Beermen proved that in an 83-67 laugher where they led by as many as 27 points while out-rebounding TNT, 67-38.

    Marcio Lassiter led the beer party with 19 points. Terrence Romeo added 16 while Fajardo dominated the boards with 17 while chipping in a modest eight points.

    Chris Ross

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    And on a day where Chris Ross went 1-of-6 from the field, ageless Arwind Santos turned in nine markers and eight boards.

    TNT, meanwhile, faded. Their shooters were spotty, not spot-on.

    Mikey Williams missed 10 of 13 shots and retreated to the bench early with seven points. The other Williams - Kelly - went scoreless while R.R. Pogoy managed just 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting.

    Jayson Castro only had 1 point.

    A SPIN.ph headline noted that the last time coach Chot Reyes guided a team to a 4-0 start, the campaign led to a title.

    LET ME MAKE A PREDICTION. TNT WON'T BE CHAMPS THIS CONFERENCE.

    Reyes is a great coach but his manpower is wanting. Leo Austria is not a great coach but his weapons are destructive,

    I don't get all the hate that SMC sports director Alfrancis Chua is getting.

    It's not his fault that his teams have more money to spend than anyone else. If anything, the guy should be celebrated for how wisely he's used those resources. A lesser mortal would have squandered it.

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    So yeah, keep these PBA games moving, albeit slowly with the usual pandemic-related pauses.

    In the end, SMB will toast another coronation.

    Ain't that predictable?

    Of course, it's the PBA.

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      PHOTO: PBA Images
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