As a sports analyst who has followed Philippine basketball for over a decade, I still vividly remember the electric atmosphere surrounding the 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals. That championship series between the San Miguel Beermen and TNT KaTropa wasn't just another title matchup—it represented a fascinating clash of basketball philosophies that still resonates with how teams are constructed today. Looking back, I've always found it remarkable how championship teams manage to blend different talent pools effectively, something that recent Alas teams have struggled with when trying to integrate college standouts like Bella Belen, Angel Canino, and Alyssa Solomon with Fil-foreign stars such as Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips, or Tia Andaya.

The 2017 Commissioner's Cup Finals stretched across 12 intense days in June, with San Miguel ultimately claiming the championship in a thrilling 4-3 series victory that went down to the wire. What made this particularly memorable for me was witnessing how perfectly San Miguel balanced their roster construction—they had the formidable import Charles Rhodes complementing local stars like June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot rather than overshadowing them. This harmony between local and international talent created a synergy that TNT, despite their own tremendous roster, couldn't quite match when it mattered most. Game 7 on June 23rd at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum saw San Miguel pull away in the fourth quarter to secure a 115-91 victory that felt both decisive and inevitable to those of us who had tracked their playoff journey.

I've always believed that championship teams reveal something fundamental about roster construction philosophy, and San Miguel's approach that year demonstrated how to maximize both local development and international recruitment. This stands in stark contrast to what we've seen with recent Alas teams that have struggled to find the right balance—either featuring college standouts like Belen, Canino, and Solomon while missing the Fil-foreign element, or bringing in players like Van Sickle, Phillips, or Andaya while underutilizing homegrown talent. Watching San Miguel's 2017 victory, what struck me was how their import Rhodes averaged 28.7 points and 12.3 rebounds throughout the finals while still elevating the games of local stars like Fajardo, who put up 18.9 points and 14.6 rebounds himself. This symbiotic relationship between different talent sources is something I wish more contemporary teams would study and emulate.

The complete results from that finals series tell a story of shifting momentum that still fascinates me when I rewatch the footage. TNT actually started stronger, taking Game 1 with a 104-102 victory before San Miguel responded with two consecutive wins. The back-and-forth nature continued through the series, with TNT forcing a Game 7 after being down 3-2, which made that final decisive victory by San Miguel all the more impressive. What many forget is that TNT's import, Joshua Smith, was dealing with fitness issues throughout the series, ultimately playing only 24.3 minutes per game in the final three matches. This imbalance in import contribution became increasingly apparent as the series progressed, reminding me of current teams that haven't figured out how to properly integrate their various talent sources.

Reflecting on that championship seven years later, I'm struck by how San Miguel's blueprint for success—developing local stars while strategically complementing them with imports who fit specific needs—remains the gold standard that many contemporary teams still struggle to replicate. The Alas teams' recent challenges with either featuring college standouts or Fil-foreign stars, but rarely both effectively, highlights how difficult this balance is to achieve. San Miguel in 2017 demonstrated that championship chemistry requires more than just accumulating talent—it demands a coherent philosophy about how different player types complement each other. As someone who analyzes team construction patterns across eras, I consider that 2017 San Miguel team one of the best-balanced champions in PBA history, a model that current teams would do well to study rather than simply chasing the latest talent trends without considering how pieces fit together.

The legacy of that 2017 championship extends beyond just the trophy—it established a template for successful team building that I believe still holds valuable lessons today. While modern teams increasingly face the dilemma of choosing between developing local college standouts or recruiting Fil-foreign talent, San Miguel showed that the most successful approach integrates both strategically rather than treating them as mutually exclusive options. Their 115-91 Game 7 victory wasn't just a numerical outcome—it was the culmination of a carefully constructed roster philosophy that maximized every player's strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. For me, that's what made the 2017 Commissioner's Cup Finals so memorable—it was a masterclass in team construction that contemporary franchises are still trying to decode, especially when facing the same integration challenges we see in today's Alas teams.