AS a team, the Alaska Milk squad that completed a grand slam 30 years ago was considered to be one of the greatest ball clubs formed in the 50-year history of the Philippine Basketball Association.
Future PBA Hall of Famers Jojo Lastimosa and Sean Chambers, two of the longest-serving members of the franchise, looked back at the magical grand slam run in 1996.
“During that grand slam run, we were just thinking about winning the next game,” said Lastimosa, then the team captain of the squad when Alaska captured the rare triple crown. “We were so matured at that time, that’s why we were not looking ahead.”
That mini-reunion between Lastimosa and Chambers while talking to The Manila Times allowed them to discuss the struggles they had before building a winning empire.
Now involved in different roles — Lastimosa as team manager of TNT in the PBA and Cambers as head coach of FEU in the UAAP — they looked back at the glory days of Alaska.
Sean burst onto the scene in 1987 as part of the visiting IBA All-Stars and the moment he saw action during the goodwill games between his team and several PBA squads, Filipino hoop fans knew a legend was already in the making.
In a slam dunk contest, Chambers defeated the highly favored Black Superman, Billy Ray Bates, who was already a legend in the PBA circuit. Since then, Chambers started to make connections with the local fans, who would see the import becoming a resident reinforcement of Alaska starting in 1989.
Lastimosa, on the other hand, joined Alaska in 1987 and teamed up with Chambers two years later. They immediately made the franchise a championship contender, wining the Third Conference against the highly fancied reinforcement Wes Matthews-led Ginebra San Miguel.
Then came a dry spell and both Lastimosa and Chambers were aware of the management’s rebuilding plans.
That winning run didn’t happen until they slowly but surely put in the pieces together — Johnny Abarrientos from the 1993 Draft, Bong Hawkins via trade with Bong Alvarez that same year, Poch Juinio and Merwin Castelo in the 1994 Draft, and Jeff Cariaso in the 1995 Draft.
It took a lot of patience and three seasons of enduring those struggles, but as soon as they’ve developed the chemistry and found the ideal system adapted by coach Tim Cone from the Chicago Bulls — the triangle offense — Alaska suddenly became a league dynasty, winning four straight championships bridging the 1995 Third Conference and the entire 1996 season.
“By 1995, we knew we already have a good team. The system is already in place. Everybody knows their roles and I think that’s what the most important. And Johnny (Abarrientos), he was a prime Johnny A and a one-man wrecking crew. Every guard was scared at Johnny at that time,” added Lastimosa. “I was 32 and Bong (Hawkins) was younger than me. The guys were at their prime and I was the oldest guy.”
For Chambers, beating San Miguel, which served as the yardstick among the teams competing in the PBA at that time, was somewhat like a passing of the torch in the season-ending conference of 1995.
For many years, the Beermen, who won the grand slam in 1989, were the perennial powerhouse squad and was considered the most dominant franchise from the late 1980s all the way to mid-1990s, until the younger, fresher Alaska team defeated the aging, worn down and limping San Miguel squad in seven games of their best-of-seven finals series in the 1995 Third Conference.
“They have Alan Caidic, Samboy Lim, Hec Calma and then Ato Agustin. Once we started beating San Miguel regularly in 1994 and 1995, that’s when we started to figure that we are now the barometer in the league,” said Chambers.
“They just have players after players after players. But once they got older and we were the young team, that’s what we knew this is our time. We knew Johnny was already the best point guard in the PBA and when Samboy was being slowed down by injuries, I thought Jojo was the best two guard. We have a good match for every position in the league.”
And when Cariaso came into the picture, it had somehow completed Alaska’s winning puzzle as they found someone who would fill the void left by Alvarez.
Cariaso was the Rookie of the Year in 1995, then played the hero’s role in the team’s 1996 title-clinching victory in the All-Filipino finals that started the team’s quest for a triple crown.
But while there was so much talk about Alaska’s greatness in 1996, Lastimosa and Chambers paid tribute to the special team they built in 1998 where the team could have won another grand slam, but sacrificed team glory for flag and country.
The key members of Alaska — from Cone, Lastimosa, Abarrientos, Hawkins and the newly acquired vital cog in Kenneth Duremdes — were loaned to the national team competing in the 1998 Asian Games and William Jones Cup. Prior to their involvement with the Philippine squad, Alaska had just won three straight championships, but sacrificed the third conference campaign with the bigger purpose.
“I just felt that 1998 we had was even more talented than our 1996 team,” said Lastimosa. “We had Kenneth Duremdes, who eventually won the Most Valuable Player award, then we had Rodney Santos and our imports were proven winners — Devin Davis and Sean — we have a pretty stacked team out there.”
Realistically, that 1998 squad had won a grand slam of sorts or three straight titles, counting that 1997 Third Conference crown it won against Purefoods.
