A Grand Slam for an Olympic berth?

The Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters would have been the heavy favorites to win only the fifth Grand Slam in PBA history based purely on their past performances in the Philippine Cup and the Commissioner’s Cup. However, the back-to-back champions have several things going against them.

First, they’ve naturally been playing longer than the other teams, and will have practiced less for the season-ending Governors Cup. Secondly, along with the three other top performers in the first two conferences, they will have the smallest imports at 6’2”. Lastly, they will be missing the services of two of their leaders, Best Player of the Conference Jimmy Alapag and Kelly Williams. Both have been loaned to the Smart-Gilas Philippine men’s team, along with Meralco’s Asi Taulava and Air21’s Dondon Hontiveros.

After a decade of having two long conferences, the PBA voted to return to its tried and tested formula of three tournaments, two of which with imports of varying heights. The shorter tournaments are more exciting to fans, and the players themselves prefer having more chances at game-winning bonuses and earning more as a whole. Also, for the sake of television revenue, having three conferences to sell is easier than having two elongated conferences.

More significantly, it restores the opportunity to win an exceptional rare Grand Slam. It has been 15 years since the Alaska Aces won the league’s last Grand Slam. The Aces hurdled the difficulty of the All-Filipino, who had been dominated by Purefoods since 1988. They seemed well on their way to earn the second conference, until import Derrek Hamilton tested positive in a mandatory drug test and was sent home.            Sean Chambers, who was slated to play in the Third Conference, was hurriedly flown, and battled 6’6” opponents at only 6’2”. By the time the Third Conference rolled in, Chambers was in top shape, and the Milkmen were in complete sync.

Talk ‘N Text is gambling away a shot at a Grand Slam by letting Alapag and Williams go.

“It’s going to be difficult without Jimmy,” says veteran Tropang Texters forward Ali Peek. “He’s our leader and our best point guard. And there’s no substitute for Kelly.”

“This was a team that took two years to come together,” adds head coach Chot Reyes. “We went for character players, not just talented players.”

“What makes this team special is that everybody knows their role,” adds forward Harvey Carey. “And everybody accepts their roles.”

Alaska went through the same thing in 1998, when the team allowed Tim Cone to coach the National team and took on management of the squad.      

Alaska had just won a Grand Slam, and had picked up Kenneth Duremdes in the hope of making a second run at a Grand Slam. The first two conferences proved to be challenging, but the Aces managed to win them.     

However, by the Third Conference, which coincided with the Asian Games, the team was too depleted, coached by Cone’s lieutenants, and fell. On the other side of the coin, it was the last time the Philippines won a medal in the Asian Games.

Talk ‘N Text is taking a similar risk by loaning its captain and most versatile forward to a team that has seen more than half the line-up leave over the last two years. The only way Smart-Gilas will be able to achieve the chemistry and familiarity with the plays needed to succeed internationally is to have all the borrowed PBA players practice with the team full-time. This means putting their PBA playbooks out of their minds and focusing fully on FIBA rules in the meantime.

But if you think about it, an Olympic berth for a Grand Slam may be a good deal, depending on how you look at things.

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There has been a clamor in recent weeks among legislators for a change in the arnis leadership in the country. Two new factors have already aggravated some senators to the point of wanting to make swift changes in the near future.      

First, because of the relationship between the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee, funds allocate for a sport may only be coursed through the national sports association ( NSA), regardless of its status. Secondly, last week, Indonesia formed an international federation for its sport of tarung derajat, which was only created in the 1970’s.

On top of that, tarung derajat will have a pre-SEA Games tournament in Bangkok in August. It will then be an exhibition sport in the SEA Games hosted by Indonesia itself in November. In one full swoop, their sport leap-frogged ours, which has not been in the biennial meet since 2005, even though it is centuries old.