Don't think about grand slam

THE more TNT is not thinking about the grand slam, the better for the team.

Such was an indication when the Tropang 5G's debut game in the Philippine Cup hit a snag as the team was beaten soundly by sister squad, NLEX, 91-74, a few days ago.

TNT coach Chot Reyes and Jojo Lastimosa had similar paths in taking their respective grand slam campaigns through the years, but it was only the latter who achieved the three championships in one season with the Alaska squad in 1996.

According to Lastimosa, the players did not talk about the triple crown as it was like a taboo for the squad to have any discussion about it, yet the PBA all-time great admitted their confidence grew game by game before finally achieving it.

"Not to the point of arrogance, but we knew we were good," Lastimosa told The Link. "But we knew even before a game, we would be up by 10 or 15. That all showed up when we had our preseason games. We didn't lose any games and we didn't even lose any out-of-town games."

He said they just gave their best in every game back then.

"For me, when you start winning games when the conditions aren't right, it actually shows a lot of character on the players' part. When you're not comfortable and you still play at the highest level, all the more that you can be at your best," he added.

Still, no one on the team talked about the grand slam until it was done.

Sean Chambers recalled the time when he even had to come in as a replacement import for Derrick Hamilton, who was banned by the PBA after testing positive for use of marijuana, along with another reinforcement, Ronnie Thompkins, then playing for Purefoods at that time.

"I remember I had to come in to replace Derrick Hamilton in the Commissioner's Cup and I wasn't in shape yet. I was heavy and had to play my weight around until I got into tip-top condition as the tournament progressed," said Chambers, who had to carry Alaska to a grind-out encounter against Shell then coached by Chito Narvasa.

Lastimosa and Chambers would have been a part of another grand slam in 1998, but there was a higher calling given to Alaska at that time, that is for the core of the team to lead the Centennial Team competing in the Asian Games.

Reyes also came so close to winning a grand slam and was in fact one win away from completing it in the 2011 season, but there were bigger challenges surrounding TNT's way, especially during the finals of the season-ending Governors' Cup when they lost to Petron.

Injuries to key players Jayson Castro, who suffered an MCL injury, and Mo Baker, prompted the Texters to make changes here and there in the championship round as they lost to the Petron Blaze Boosters in seven games.

Judging from history, Reyes knew this was not the right time to think about the grand slam, even though the Tropang 5G had put themselves in a position to achieve it.

Still, there are 10 more games left and after losing their opening match badly, perhaps Reyes and his troops will all be more concerned about playing better as a team in the next coming games.

Thinking of a grand slam is definitely not a good time at this stage.