Alaska–San Miguel rivalry
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| Teams |
Alaska Aces San Miguel Beermen | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First meeting | October 7, 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Latest meeting | December 3, 2016, Smart Araneta Coliseum | ||||||||||||
| Next meeting | TBA | ||||||||||||
| Statistics | |||||||||||||
| Meetings total | 264 meetings | ||||||||||||
| All-time record | 144–120 (.545), San Miguel | ||||||||||||
| Largest victory | 36 (124–88), San Miguel | ||||||||||||
| Longest win streak | 10, San Miguel (October 30, 1988–August 3, 1989) | ||||||||||||
| Current win streak | 7, San Miguel | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
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The Alaska–San Miguel rivalry is between the two of the oldest franchises in the Philippine Basketball Association, the Alaska Aces and the San Miguel Beermen. They are considered the most successful teams in PBA history, having 36 PBA championships combined, a league-record 22 titles for the Beermen and the second-best 14 rings for the Aces. Both teams also hold the top spots for most wins in the all-time league team standings. This rivalry is the most played pairing of any two teams in the league's history, having been met for 264 times.
Championship meeting
It was in the 1987 PBA Reinforced Conference when the two ballclubs first played in the PBA finals, [1] the Beermen, then reinforced by best import Bobby Parks, prevailed in five games against Alaska, known as Hills Bros. Coffee Kings that season. The rivalry between these two teams, both of which had won the coveted Granslam in 1989 and 1996 respectively, really started during the late 1990s up to the early 2000s.
In the 1995 PBA Governors Cup Finals, Alaska Milk, coach by Tim Cone, came back from a 2-3 series deficit to beat the Beermen in seven games to retain the Governor's Cup title and scored their first win over San Miguel in a championship series.
The year 1998 saw the Alaska Milkmen winning twice over the San Miguel Beermen in the finals, duplicating their previous finals' triumph over the Beermen in the All-Filipino Cup by winning the last two games in the seven-game series and scoring a 4-2 victory in the Commissioner's Cup. In 1999, the Beermen, under new coach Jong Uichico, finally beat Alaska in the finals of the 1990s era, winning in six games in the 1999 PBA Governors Cup.
After 11 years, in the 2009-10 PBA season, Alaska and San Miguel played again in the championship during the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference, the Alaska Aces scored a 4-2 series victory, to prove their superiority over the San Miguel franchise, winning four of their last five finals meeting.
In the 2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup as the league celebrates its 40th season, the two most successful franchises in league history, battled for the Philippine Cup crown, the Beermen once again, almost blew a 3–2 series lead, but relied on the heroics of finals MVP Arwind Santos in the final 43 seconds of the seventh and deciding game to win, 80–78, and their first Game 7 finals victory over the Alaska Aces.[2] They faced once again in the 2015 Governors' Cup Finals where the Beermen swept the Aces in four games. June Mar Fajardo was awarded as the Finals MVP.
For the third time in the last four conferences, the San Miguel Beermen and the Alaska Aces played in the championship anew in the finals rematch for the 2015-16 PBA Philippine Cup trophy. San Miguel achieved a historic feat of sorts, never been done in the whole history of the sport by coming back from a 0-3 series deficit to win four straight games over the Aces and successfully retain the crown. The Beermen were given up for lost in Game four before coming back and win in overtime for their first victory in the best-of-seven series, two more victories, another overtime win in Game five and a morale and confidence-booster triumph in Game six put the Beermen to just a win away from making a historic comeback. Currently, the San Miguel and Alaska ballclub had a total of 55 championship meetings with the Beermen having the edge, 30 to 25. [3]
Finals results (Best-of-7)
| Year | 1987 | 1995 | 1998 | 1998 | 1999 | 2010 | 2015 (PH) | 2015 (Gov) | 2016 (PH) | Titles against each other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hills Bros/Alaska | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| San Miguel | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Conference | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 1st | - |
Trivia
The Alaska and San Miguel ball clubs in all of their championship showdowns, involves American coaches on the bench. Tim Cone and Alex Compton for Alaska and Norman Black and Ron Jacobs for San Miguel. The local coaches, Arturo Valenzona for Alaska, Jong Uichico, Siot Tanquingcen and Leo Austria, were all winning coaches in the amateur and collegiate ranks.
The Beermen and the Aces played in the best-of-five semifinal series five times during the period 1999–2002. San Miguel won their series thrice in the Commissioners Cup from 1999 to 2001. Alaska won two times in the 2000 All-Filipino Cup and 2002 Governors Cup.
San Miguel has been Alaska's favorite squad in the finals where they came back from large deficits with one, big-scoring run. In Game 6 of the 1995 Governors Cup finals, the Milkmen trailed, 41-53 at halftime when they outscored the Beermen, 28-10 in the third period to gain the upper hand and went on to win and force a Game 7. In the deciding game, the Beermen were ahead, 79-75, midway in the fourth quarter, when Alaska unleashed a 16-1 run to give them a 91–80 lead and eventually won the championship. In Game 3 of the 1999 Governors Cup finals, with the series tied at one game apiece, the Beermen were up, 82–71 in the fourth quarter, but Alaska blanked them with a 17–0 blast and win the game, 88–82. In the 2014–15 Philippine Cup finals, the third game of the series had the Alaska Aces trailing 46–64, going into the final 12 minutes, a 20–1 run by the Aces gave them the lead and completed a comeback, outscoring the Beermen, 32–6, in the final quarter.[4] The Aces almost duplicate the feat in the final game of the series, rallying from a 21-point halftime deficit and led by six points, late in the fourth quarter.
When San Miguel and Alaska clash for the 2015-16 Philippine Cup title, it will mark the first time since Red Bull and Purefoods in the 2005–06 season wherein two teams will play in consecutive championships. Their finals showdown likewise will be the first in 22 years that two teams will play in a rematch of the All-Filipino crown. From 1992 to 1994, San Miguel and Purefoods/Coney Island battled each other for All-Filipino supremacy for three straight seasons.
Import match-up
| Year/Conference | Alaska | San Miguel |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 Reinforced | Jose Slaughter | Bobby Parks |
| 1995 Governors Cup | Sean Chambers | Kenny Travis |
| 1998 Commissioners Cup | Devin Davis | Lamont Strothers |
| 1999 Governors Cup | Sean Chambers | Lamont Strothers |
| 2010 Fiesta | Diamon Simpson | Gabriel Freeman |
| 2015 Governors' | Romeo Travis | Arizona Reid |
See also
References
- ↑ San Miguel, Hills start playoffs today, Manila Standard
- ↑ San Miguel Beer, Alaska dish out thriller of a series, Philstar.com
- ↑ Beermen makes history, survived Aces in Game 7, pba.inquirer.net
- ↑ Alaska pulls off mother of all comebacks, Spin.ph