MANILA, Philippines – The San Miguel Beermen found themselves back in the summit of the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday after trouncing the TNT Tropang Giga in Game Seven of their finals series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But the squad that made a return to throne of the Philippine Cup was vastly different from those that have gone before them, including the five straight Philippine Cup titles from 2014 to 2019.
This was because the storied "Death Five" lineup was no more, with the trades of former stalwarts Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos to other teams.
A rejigged team was the one to help SMB over the hump, with the likes of CJ Perez, Vic Manuel, Simon Enciso, and Jericho Cruz all making contributions for the Beermen's first PBA title in three years.
For SMB head coach Leo Austria, though, it was still his veteran wards who have been on the summit before that were key to victory.
Finals MVP June Mar Fajardo, Chris Ross, and Marcio Lassiter — who complete the former "Death Five" lineup — played mightily to help their team win, earning themselves their sixth Philippine Cup title.
Having been here before and knowing what it takes to win, the veterans were able to influence the whole team to pull out all the stops against a pesky TNT side.
"I know that our players were determined to really win the game because of the experienced players," Austria said of their mindset going into Game Seven.
"They were sharing it to each other, because alam naman natin na ang players namin, I think ano eh, more than half ay galing sa ibang team, and didn't have experience in the championship," he added.
But Austria believes that a tough grind in the playoffs, including back-to-back series that reached Game Seven, made his wards battle ready.
And the decorated tactician can only hope that it'll be a point of learning for them that they can continue to hone in the coming conferences.
"I think nakabuti sa amin yung mga playoffs games namin dahil we were able to develop yung winning character and that's very important because the coaching staff and the management, they know how to win a championship and we're lucky the players realized na I think this is the way, that's why San Miguel is really successful in this campaign," said Austria.
"I'm so happy with the players because they learned a lot, how to win a championship because they are a scoring champion from another team and a role player, but their role here is different from their former team. And they know what's the beauty of winning a championship and I hope yung nangyari sakanila dito, marealize nila na this is the way. And I hope na macontinue namin ito until next conference or third conference," he continued.
With the Philippine Cup back in their possessession, Austria and the rest of the Beermen are looking to continue their success to take the first PBA Grand Slam since 2013-14 with championships in the next two conferences of the PBA season.