The famed triangle offense was the cornerstone of the Alaska franchise's run of PBA championships in the 1990s, but former star Jojo Lastimosa says he initially had serious misgivings about running it.
"What was it that Kobe (Bryant) said to Phil Jackson about the triangle? It was stupid," Lastimosa said with a laugh.
The offense and how Tim Cone struggled to get his team to embrace it were among the many topics the retired star, now an assistant coach with the NLEX Road Warriors, discussed in the latest episode of the An Eternity of Basketball podcast.
Early Alaska years
Even though he started his playing career with Purefoods, Lastimosa will always be synonymous with the Alaska franchise.
Following a stint which bore a championship with the Hotdogs in the 1990 PBA Third Conference, Lastimosa was shipped to the Alaska Milkmen for Elmer Cabahug in January 1991, beginning a relationship that would last ten seasons and produce nine PBA titles, including a Grand Slam in 1996.
Lastimosa was part of a much-heralded 1988 rookie trio that joined Purefoods in its maiden PBA season and took the league by storm. Even though they had a solid young core and were coming off the franchise's first PBA title in late 1990, Jolas decided he was better off elsewhere.
"I knew I was gonna go," he said. "I wanted to leave Purefoods already because I thought I needed to expand my game, improve my game, and I felt that I wasn't playing a lot of minutes. I was only playing around 25 to 27 minutes, and I thought I could produce more when I'm in a different situation."
The 1990s saw the Milkmen assert their supremacy over the rest of the league, but it wasn't the case early on.
When Lastimosa arrived, he joined a veteran-laden squad, which included Frankie Lim and Biboy Ravanes. He also saw firsthand how this young American coach was starting to make a name for himself in the PBA.
"It was a new beginning for me and I found out quickly how Tim was going to be like," recalled Lastimosa. "He used to make us practice very hard. Disciplined. Meticulous. Very detailed. And right from the get-go, I knew Tim would be a pretty good coach because he wanted to learn. He was a young coach, didn't have much experience but he was willing to work. He was a hard worker."
The trade for Lastimosa paid off rather quickly when they bagged the 1991 Third Conference crown at the expense of Robert Jaworski's Ginebra team.
Ginebra, which won the First Conference crown behind Rudy Distrito's heroics earlier that year, was led by two-time NBA champion Wes Matthews. It didn't matter for Alaska as they dispatched Ginebra in four games in their best-of-five series.
The next two years became a dormant period for Alaska even after they acquired Bong Hawkins via a trade and drafted Johnny Abarrientos and Poch Juinio.
At this point, Cone's job security was getting thinner by the minute, revealed Lastimosa.
"Alaska knew that I needed help and be stronger and have a better lineup. And I think that was also the time, Tim admitted that he was going to get fired I think in 1993 or 1994. He was very close to getting fired," said Lastimosa. "When Bong and Johnny came, that was the beginning of getting the pieces together."
Not liking the triangle
By this time, the Chicago Bulls had already formed the first half of their dynasty, having won three straight NBA championships behind the triangle offense mastered by Bulls assistant Tex Winter.
The triangle, which emphasized ball movement between all players, was seen by Cone as the next step in helping Alaska get over the hump.
Much like ball-dominant guards Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, Lastimosa initially expressed doubts playing under an egalitarian-type of offense.
"We butted heads, me and Tim. I didn't like the triangle. I thought it was a hard offense, which was true. I wasn't used to the ball rotating," Lastimosa remembered with a chuckle. "Everybody touches the ball and eventually, that may go to a player that can't shoot, so the offense would stagnate."
It eventually came to a point where Cone gathered all of his players for a meeting and decide the fate of the complex offense. Lastimosa said that his recollection of the event has become hazy, so he shared Cone's account of what happened.
"He said, 'How are all of you guys? I ask you if you still wanted to use the triangle,'" recalled Lastimosa. "In his mind, he was hoping for me to back him up because I was one of his main players."
To Cone's surprise, Lastimosa told the coach frankly, "Coach, I don't think we should run the triangle." Cone became so disappointed with his star, that it burned a lasting memory with the coach for a long time.
Eventually, Cone found a way to simplify the mechanics of the offense. He broke down the plays to what he called options. "Option 1 was to pass to the big guy. Option 2, you had to do a swing top," explained Lastimosa.
Dominant Milkmen
Now armed with the right blend of players and good chemistry, with a complete commitment to the triangle, Alaska was ready to take over the league.
Led by Jolas, The Flying A, and Hawkins, Alaska won the 1994 and 1995 Governors' Cup crowns with Sean Chambers, who would eventually become the team's resident import.
The Milkmen then added Fil-Am swingman Jeffrey Cariaso as the sixth pick of the 1995 PBA Draft. Cariaso's addition would become integral to the 1996 Grand Slam run, highlighted by his game-winning free throws in Game 5 of the All-Filipino championship series over Purefoods, 4-1, where Lastimosa was recognized as Finals MVP.
Alaska would win a hard-fought seven-game series against Formula Shell in the Commissioner's Cup, and complete the rare triple crown by downing Ginebra in the Governor's Cup Finals, 4-1.
The team was on top of the mountain in 1996, with Abarrientos winning league MVP. Johnny was joined by Jolas and Bong Hawkins in the Mythical First Team, while Cariaso managed to make the Mythical Second Team.
Abarrientos and Cariaso would share spots in the All-Defensive squad, while Cone won his second Coach of the Year award. Jun Reyes was also named Mr. Quality Minutes, equivalent to the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.
"They just bought in to the idea that in order for us to be successful, everybody has to work together. Everyone has to play as a team. And I think that started with Coach Tim, and his concept about the triangle. Everybody getting involved and having a chance to touch the ball," recalled Lastimosa.
That Grand Slam was far from easy.
"Everything has to click. Your import has to be the right fit. The players and the assistant coaches too. The coach's system must be correct as well. And the support is there. It's like the perfect storm."
He owes that era of excellence to magnificent leadership that goes up all the way to team ownership of Wilfred S. Uytengsu.
"You should give a lot of credit to Tim for setting that kind of system and culture and that lineup in the '90s. And with Fred (Uytengsu) too. He's a large part of that culture in Alaska even now. The culture about working together and not about relying much on one to two players. To me, it was a perfect organization. It was the best time of my life because I was at the peak of my career and I experienced this," reflected Lastimosa.
When 1998 came along, Alaska became even more dominant. After trading away Cariaso in 1997, the Milkmen gained more firepower with the additions of Kenneth Duremdes and Rodney Santos.
Lastimosa recalled that their 1998 campaign was like a walk in the park. "Believe it or not, the 1998 lineup, that would have been the easiest Grand Slam that you can probably imagine."
Alaska would win the first two conferences and was primed to win another Grand Slam. But with Cone, Lastimosa, Abarrientos, and MVP Duremdes joining the Philippine Centennial Team which participated in the 1998 Asian Games, the Milkmen fell short in the season-closing Governors' Cup, finishing dead last in the standings.
A brief separation
The Milkmen decided to head into the new millennium with Duremdes as their main man. Eventually, he would be the recipient of the richest contract in PBA history on record, a 48 million-peso deal spread over eight years.
Because of this, Alaska had to tighten up its salary cap belt, and eventually had to part ways with Lastimosa.
"I didn't want to leave Alaska. I wanted to retire with Alaska and I'm too old to be starting my career again going to another team. That's what I said to Fred and Tim," said Lastimosa.
Because of the mammoth deal Duremdes got, the team was not able to offer Lastimosa a decent salary. Lastimosa, invoking loyalty to the squad, volunteered to take a pay cut just to stay with the franchise.
Due to the PBA's newly-formed salary cap rules, the team had to look for trade partners for some of their other players if they wanted to keep Lastimosa. After a considerable amount of time, Alaska failed to find suitors.
Lastimosa then decided to sign an offer sheet with cellar dwellers Pop Cola. He bid an emotional goodbye to Cone and Uytengsu, breaking down in tears in the office's parking lot afterwards.
Jolas spent two years with Pop Cola under old friend Chot Reyes. The team was really bad in his first year, but his second and last season with the team saw a reunion with Abarrientos and Juinio. Pop Cola eventually made the semifinals that year but fell short.
In 2002, Lastimosa decided it was time to head home. He mended ties with Cone and informed him that he wanted to retire as a member of the team, now known as the Aces.
"I said, ' Tim, I want to go back for my last year with Alaska because I want to retire already.' I had an understanding with Tim and Fred that I was going back and retire," Lastimosa shared.
The team's roster had virtually changed over the two-year span and Jolas would serve a new role of mentoring the team's fledgling stars in John Arigo, Ali Peek and Jon Ordonio.
After falling short in the Governors' Cup and the All-Filipino Finals against - ironically - his old teams Purefoods and Coca-Cola, respectively, Lastimosa hung up his sneakers for good.