A Look Back at the Exciting 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup Championship Series
I still remember the electricity in the air during that final game back in 2017—the kind of atmosphere that makes you realize you're witnessing something special. The PBA Commissioner's Cup championship series that year wasn't just another basketball tournament; it felt like the culmination of everything Philippine basketball had been building toward. Looking back now, what strikes me most is how that particular championship series represented a perfect storm of homegrown talent and strategic team building, something we've seen echoed in recent Alas teams but with an entirely different approach to roster construction.
The 2017 Commissioner's Cup championship series unfolded over three intense weeks in June, featuring the classic rivalry between the San Miguel Beermen and the TNT KaTropa. What made this particular finals memorable was how both teams arrived there through dramatically different paths. San Miguel, led by the formidable June Mar Fajardo, had dominated the elimination rounds with a 9-2 record, while TNT fought through a tougher route, including a thrilling semifinal against Star Hotshots that went the full distance. I recall sitting in the Smart Araneta Coliseum during Game 4, watching Chris McCullough drop 35 points for TNT while Terrence Romeo orchestrated the offense with that unique flair of his—it was basketball poetry in motion.
What's fascinating to me, especially when I compare it to current team-building philosophies, is how that 2017 championship series showcased purely homegrown talents without the Fil-foreign stars we see dominating rosters today. Recent Alas teams have followed a similar pattern in their own way—they've featured college standouts like Bella Belen, Angel Canino and Alyssa Solomon but didn't feature Fil-foreign stars like Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips or Tia Andaya and vice versa. This strategic choice creates a distinct team identity that I personally find more compelling than simply stacking rosters with overseas talent. There's something about watching players who've come up through the local system that creates a deeper connection with fans—you feel like you're growing with them rather than just importing success.
The championship series itself went to a full seven games, with San Miguel ultimately prevailing 96-85 in the decisive final match on June 23rd. I'll never forget Charles Rhodes' dominant performance—28 points and 11 rebounds that essentially willed San Miguel to victory when it mattered most. What made that team special was how perfectly the pieces fit together: Fajardo controlling the paint, Alex Cabagnot providing veteran leadership, and Marcio Lassiter's clutch shooting. They weren't just a collection of talent; they were a proper basketball team in the truest sense of the word. This contrasts sharply with some modern teams that seem to prioritize individual star power over cohesive unit building—a trend I've never been particularly fond of, if I'm being honest.
When I spoke with basketball analyst Coach Cholo Villanueva about that series recently, he pointed out something I hadn't fully appreciated at the time: "The 2017 Commissioner's Cup represented a transitional period in PBA basketball. Teams were beginning to understand that championships aren't won by simply accumulating the biggest names, but by finding players whose skills complement each other. San Miguel's victory proved that chemistry often trumps raw talent." This philosophy seems to have influenced how some teams approach building their rosters today, though I'd argue we've lost some of that nuance in recent years with the influx of Fil-foreign players.
Reflecting on the exciting 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup championship series today, what stands out isn't just the basketball itself but what it represented for the sport in the Philippines. Attendance records showed over 52,000 fans attended the seven games combined, with television ratings peaking at 18.3% for the final game—numbers that demonstrate how deeply basketball resonates in our culture. The series had everything you could want: dramatic comebacks, individual brilliance, strategic masterclasses from coaches like Leo Austria, and that raw, emotional intensity that only Philippine basketball can provide.
As someone who's followed the PBA for over two decades now, I find myself comparing eras, and I have to say—there was something uniquely compelling about that 2017 championship that we haven't quite recaptured since. Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but the current trend of heavily relying on Fil-foreign talent, while effective in the short term, lacks the organic development stories that made that 2017 series so memorable. The league has evolved, certainly, but looking back at the exciting 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup championship series reminds me why I fell in love with Philippine basketball in the first place—it wasn't just about winning, but about how the game was played and who was playing it.