Alaska–San Miguel rivalry

The Alaska Aces–San Miguel Beermen rivalry is between two of the most successful basketball teams in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Championship meeting

It was in the 1987 PBA Reinforced Conference when the two ballclubs first played in the PBA finals, 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. They faced once again in the 2015 Governors' Cup Finals when the Beermen swept the Aces in four games. June Mar Fajardo was awarded as the Finals MVP.

Finals results (Best-of-7)

Trivias

The Alaska and San Miguel ballclub in all of their championship showdown, 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 1999-2001. Alaska won two times in the 2000 All-Filipino Cup and 2002 Governors Cup.

Somehow, San Miguel has been Alaska's favorite squad in the finals where they would 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 upperhand 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 an incredible comeback, outscoring the Beermen, 32-6, in the final quarter. The Aces almost duplicate the feat in the final game of the series, rallying from a 21-point halftime deficit and even led by six points, late in the fourth quarter.

Import match-up

See also

• Manila Clasico

External links

• PBA Official Website