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‘Beautiful thing to be a part of’: Remembering Alaska’s 1996 grand slam journey

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Rey Joble

<p>Whether it was Jeff Cariaso making the game-winning free throws, or Alaska surviving a grueling series against Shell, or the Milkmen winning 13 games in a row in the season-ending third conference, any among those sequences played a big part in the organization&#x27;s road to the grand slam in 1996.</p><p>Multi-titled coach Tim Cone, long-time resident import Sean Chambers and other great players such as Jojo Lastimosa and Jeffrey Cariaso looked back at that wonderful journey where Alaska completed a triple crown and helped the team became the most successful squad of the 1990s.</p><p>In 1996, Alaska put itself in a much better position to finally win its first All-Filipino title.</p><p>The year before, the Milkmen lost a grueling 7-game series against the Juicers, but in 1996 Alaska appeared to be the favorites to win it.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/16/22/pba-sadness-pride-felt-as-alaska-legends-reminisce">‘One big family’: Legends recall Alaska time with sadness, pride as franchise folds</a></li></ul><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CaBU63UgtpA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"> </div></div></div><div style="padding:19% 0"> 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transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CaBU63UgtpA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Alaska Aces (@alaska_aces)</a></div></div></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/17/22/pba-the-time-alaska-was-known-by-another-brand">PBA: From milk to coffee, why Alaska at one point became known as Hills Bros</a></li></ul><p>That&#x27;s because Purefoods&#x27; main man Alvin Patrimonio was hurt and had to endure a hairline fracture on his foot and the Milkmen, who just posted a 3-1 lead in their best-of-7 championship series were ready to deliver the knockout blow.</p><p>Down to the closing seconds of the game with Alaska trailing 92-91, Cariaso cut straight to the basket to receive a pass off a baseline inbound play and was fouled by Bong Ravena in the act of shooting.</p><p>Cariaso was sent to the foul line and delivered 2 pressure-packed free throws that sealed the win for the Milkmen. </p><p>Now the current head coach of Alaska, Cariaso relished the opportunity recalling that special moment, one which stood out as probably the most unforgettable moment of his playing career.<br/> <br/>&quot;It was really one of my most memorable games of my playing career. It&#x27;s probably on top only because of how you won it and being our first All-Filipino title in Alaska. It&#x27;s one of those sequences, it&#x27;s like a dream where you win a game or hit a winning shot for a championship or shoot the free throws,&quot; said Cariaso. </p><p>&quot;So, that&#x27;s like a kid&#x27;s dream to me and that what makes it special. It was a well-fought series, a great experience and I&#x27;m happy to be a part of it and hit those free throws.&quot;</p><p>By the 2nd conference, Alaska made a drastic change in between its campaign.</p><p>Derrick Hamilton, the import reinforcing the team in the Commissioner&#x27;s Cup, was excluded by the league to continuously play in the tournament along with Purefoods reinforcement Ronnie Thompkins as both tested positive for taking banned substance.</p><p>Old reliable Chambers, who was supposed to reinforce Alaska in the season-ending third conference, had to fly in early.</p><p>So when the Milkmen competed for the rest of the Commissioner&#x27;s Cup, Chambers was still groping for form. </p><p>&quot;In the second conference, I was not in basketball shape. I was two months, three months early. So when I got a call to replace Derrick Hamilton, I had to play my weight into shape,&quot; recalled Chambers.</p><p>It was a struggle both for Chambers and the Milkmen and they even had to deal with a gut-wrenching series against an underdog Shell team, which overachieved in the tournament.</p><p>A buzzer-beating, half-court heave that went in sent the Zoom Masters to the finals to face the Milkmen and, to Alaska&#x27;s surprise, Shell had to push its more experienced rival to the limit.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amp/sports/02/18/22/pba-chambers-on-alaska-memories-huge-part-of-me">PBA: Sean Chambers waxes nostalgic, as Alaska announces exit</a></li></ul><p>Chambers remembered how tough that series was and he himself couldn&#x27;t believe how they were able to pull it off in 7 games. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/16/22/ginebras-cone-proud-of-his-years-with-alaska">Ginebra&#x27;s Cone proud of his years with Alaska</a></li></ul><p>&quot;It was really a tough series against Shell. It was a series we didn&#x27;t think we can pull off,&quot; said Chambers.</p><p>Cone agreed.</p><p>&quot;Out of the 4 championships (counting the 1995 third conference), the hardest championship series for us was against Shell with Chito Narvasa as coach,&quot; Cone said. &quot;That was a really memorable one for us. It was really, really tough. It went to a Game 7.&quot;</p><p>Shell in fact took the early upper hand, winning Game 1, 85-82, then after Alaska equalled the series with a Game 2 win, the Zoom Masters regained the lead with an even more impressive performance in Game 3, taking an 85-77 victory.</p><p>The Milkmen countered with back-to-back wins in Games 4 and 5, but just when the team thought the Zoom Masters were already reeling Shell stayed alive off a miracle shot by Ritchie Ticzon, who hit a fadeaway triple right at the corner and set up a winner-take-all showdown.</p><p>But Alaska&#x27;s poise in a championship series showed and with the tournament&#x27;s Best Player of the Conference, Bong Hawkins, and Lastimosa keeping their rivals at bay, the Milkmen went on to survive the series.</p><p>&quot;If we didn&#x27;t win that Game 7, of course, we won&#x27;t win the grand slam,&quot; added Cone. </p><p>As the pressure increased while Alaska was chasing for a triple crown, Cone felt he had to devise a plan to make the run possible. </p><p>Before Cone won 5 championships each for the old Purefoods franchise, capped by a grand slam in 2014, and 5 more titles for Barangay Ginebra, the American mentor bagged 13 titles, including a grand slam in 1996. </p><p>But that triple crown 26 years ago wouldn&#x27;t have been possible had it not been for the management&#x27;s strategic plans on releasing some of the pressure on the shoulders of the players.</p><p>The strategy was designed by team owner Wilfred Uytengsu, team manager Joaqui Trillo and Cone, Alaska&#x27;s own version of a triangle at the front office, who found ways to ease the pressure on the team. </p><p>Looking back, Cone knew that on the crest of winning a grand slam the team had to learn from the previous experience of a squad that turned out to be its tormentor the season just passed -- the Sunkist Orange Juicers.</p><p>&quot;We have experienced watching Sunkist lose the grand slam the year before. As a team, that kinda imploded chemistry-wise. There was a lot of promise within the import. A lot of those times happened because of the pressure on you to succeed. The expectations are going higher and higher and higher every time you win a championship,&quot; said Cone.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/16/22/alaska-owner-explains-decision-to-leave-pba">Alaska owner explains decision to leave PBA</a></li></ul><p>&quot;The pressure really starts to build. We watched Sunkist kinda succumbed to that pressure. When we got to that point when we had a chance to win that championship, the telling factor for us, we&#x27;re gonna do everything to take the pressure off to the players. We just try to find things that we could do to take the pressure off the players.&quot;</p><p>After the meeting, Cone laid out the rules for the squad. </p><p>&quot;No. 1, we won&#x27;t talk about the grand slam. We won&#x27;t use the term &#x27;grand slam&#x27; in the team. If we say grand slam in a team setting, we would fine you. Those are not allowed in the team. You can talk about it to your family or outside. But when we were together, no, it was not allowed,&quot; said Cone. </p><p>&quot;That was one way of trying to take the pressure off, trying to talk away the distraction of winning the grand slam. Just stay focused on game to game.&quot;</p><p>But as early as the preseason, Lastimosa, the Milkmen&#x27;s team captain, already sensed 1996 was something special.</p><p>&quot;Not to the point of arrogance, but we knew we were good. But even before the start of the game, we knew we&#x27;ll be up 10, 15 points. That all showed up when we had a preseason games, we didn&#x27;t lose anything. Also, our out-of-town games, we didn&#x27;t lose a game,&quot; Lastimosa said.</p><p>&quot;For me, when you start winning out-of-town games, when the conditions aren&#x27;t right, it actually shows a lot of character on the players&#x27; part. When you&#x27;re not comfortable and you play at the highest level, you can beat anyone, given the circumstances na parang if you&#x27;re in a comfortable place, all the more that you&#x27;ll be at your best. But if you are at your best when the situations aren&#x27;t right, you&#x27;re special.&quot;</p><p>Even before the chase for the grand slam, Alaska had already won 3 straight titles, so when the Third Conference started, the Milkmen were off to a bad start. </p><p>&quot;We lost our first 3 games going to the third conference. That was mostly because we just won the second conference. When we got to the third conference, we lost our first 3 games, which is usually scary. Then, we proceeded on to win 13 games in a row,&quot; Chambers said.</p><p>Cone and the rest of the Milkmen had to snap out of the funk to the point of having to slap their faces.<br/> <br/>&quot;But I think after that point, we said to ourselves, &#x27;Hey, we&#x27;ve got to play.&#x27; At that point, we won 13 games in a row. We didn&#x27;t lose a game until we went to the finals. We had a 3-0 lead then we lost Game 4 against Ginebra, then we won Game 5. So we won 14 of 15 games through that period,&quot; said Cone. </p><p>&quot;But during that period, we never talked about the grand slam. We&#x27;re just thinking, &#x27;We&#x27;re gonna win the next game.&#x27; After we won the grand slam, I turned around to my team and told them, &#x27;now you can say it, we won the grand slam.&#x27; It was a special moment for all of us.&quot;</p><p>Chambers knew that after winning the third conference of 1994 and 1995 season, he&#x27;ll return in 1996 playing with the best teammates he ever had. </p><p>The team had gone on to mature, developing their killer&#x27;s instinct and by the time resident import returned, he knew he&#x27;ll get the best out from Lastimosa, Johnny Abarrientos, who eventually became the season MVP, Hawkins, and Poch Juinio among others. </p><p>&quot;When we won the first 2 conferences, we felt that somehow we were kinda invincible. We won the third conference of 1994, the third conference of 1995 and then I&#x27;m coming back for the third conference of 1996. </p><p>&quot;By the time we play in the 1996 third conference, I was in the best shape of my career. All my skill level is coming together, I was able to hit more mid-range jump shots, I was defending. My teammates were the best local players at that time. When we started winning and got into our rhythm, I felt we were just absolutely unstoppable. The greatness of my teammates, Jojo, Johnny, Bong, Poch Juinio, Jeffrey Cariaso, Merwin Castello, Chris Bolado, when we got our mindset to win, nobody could beat us.&quot; </p><p>It has been 26 years since their grand slam feat, but Chambers believes Alaska was composed of special group of guys.<br/> <br/>&quot;We came to work every day like we were on a purpose, then we were on a roll. It was such a beautiful thing to be a part of. That brings chills on me, still,&quot; added Chambers.</p><p>Chambers would rather look back at the great runs he had. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/18/21/this-day-in-pba-history-remember-jose-slaughter">This Day in PBA History: Slaughter hits record 14 3-pointers for Hills Bros.</a></li></ul><p>He was pretty emotional when he learned that Alaska is leaving the PBA and for the only other import who were feted &quot;Mr. 100-Percent Performance&quot; the legacy of Alaska will continue to live on. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1929960" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The Alaska team bannered by head coach Tim Cone and a gritty group of players met a few road bumps on the road to the 1996 triple crown.