All throughout the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup Finals, TNT Tropang Giga interim coach Jojo Lastimosa kept on saying that his team had nothing to lose.
That they were just happy to be here in the finals against the league's most-popular team and most-successful coach.
Whether 'Jolas' truly believed they were underdogs or was just playing mind games with his former mentor and coach Tim Cone will never be known. But what everyone now knows it this: Jojo Lastimosa can coach the heck out of a basketball team.
Yet even as the confetti was falling down from the rafters of Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday night following the Tropang Giga's title-clinching 97-93 Game 6 win, Lastimosa still couldn't believe it.
"Even nung nag-buzzer na nung alam ko mananalo na parang, my God, this is really happening because can you imagine, paulit-ulit ko sinasabi na I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be coaching this," he recalled.
Lastimosa has always pushed back against the idea that he was just keeping the seat warm for Chot Reyes, that he wouldn't be able to put his imprint on this star-studded team.
And while he didn't stray too far from TNT's system under Reyes, he subtly inserted his own stuff.
"My deal was that if I'm gonna coach, I'll coach it," Lastimosa said. "And I'm not going to be just a mouthpiece. And they agreed to it.
"We're just running the same system as Chot. So nagkakaiba lang yung substitution pattern ko, yung timeouts ko, yung ganun. But generally, it was an incredible job by the coaches."
When Reyes announced in January that he was stepping away from the Tropang Giga to give his full attention to Gilas Pilipinas, hardly anyone thought he would name Lastimosa as his temporary replacement.
'Jolas' had just joined the team in July last year, not as an assistant coach but as team manager. His only previous head coaching experience at this level was also on an interim basis, with NLEX Road Warriors in August 2018 when head coach Yeng Guiao was at the Asian Games.
Lastimosa says he got the call-up because "there's no one else. They wanted a senior coach to step in. And I was the most senior. Okay, sabi ko, let's give it a go."
But Reyes knew from the start that he wanted Lastimosa to be more than just the guy handling players' contracts.
"We were already preparing towards that," he explained. "So when I asked him to join us, I knew that he would have a lot of value for us. Even when he was team manager, he was always present in all of our coaching and strategy meetings.
"And I would always seek his input as well. Our friendship dates way back from the time that we played together in Ateneo, so it was very natural for us to take to this level."
The Tropang Giga's official win-loss record for this Governors' Cup was an impressive 18-4, but that hardly meant it was smooth sailing for Lastimosa.
As Alaska team captain he used to butt heads regularly with Cone even while they were winning all those championships. He soon encountered the same dynamic after he took over at TNT, except now he was on the other side of the equation.
"Nag-aaway kami ni Tim before sa finals," Lastimosa recounted. "Andaming beses kami nag-sisigawan sa labas ng locker room because there are things I wanted to happen and hindi niya in-explain sa akin. You just need to explain to me.
"As a coach, you just need communication with the players. And the players will understand. They will always understand."
Perhaps no other player provided more of a challenge than Mikey Williams, with whom Lastimosa already had a history following contentious negotiations last year on a contract extension.
What's more, Williams loved playing for Reyes, and their bond became tight after they won the Philippine Cup together in the 2021 Bacolor bubble.
"I had a feel for coach Chot already," Williams said. "Trying to learn from 'Jolas' was a new bounce in itself. I really tested him this year. I have a high IQ.
"Some of the things that we've been doing, I wasn't really happy with in the beginning. I just started leaving it up to him. I was trying to be quiet and keep things up there.
"Things started taking off from there. All the relationships that we had started to build up. He started to let me be. I started to understand where his coaching was at. It was new. It was his first season as a head coach.
"It was a big adjustment. Being from Chot, you know what to expect from Chot. I've not really known 'Jolas' too long. You don't really know what to expect. Or how to maneuver and operate in certain situations. We found a way to get to where it needed to be to close out this series."
Winning a championship in his first try was an achievement in itself, but what made it sweeter for Lastimosa was he did it over the team that had dominated the Governors' Cup and the coach with whom he won several titles.
"I'm greatly honored," he said. "Seldom do you beat Justin Brownlee and Tim Cone in this conference. They own this. They own the Governor's Cup. And if there's somebody who can dethrone them, they must have done something really nice. And I think this is the first time that Justin lost the finals (of the Governors' Cup)."
Lastimosa said he's not the only ex-Alaska player thrilled by their victory.
"Sean Chambers will be happy," he said of the former Alaska import who remains tied with Brownlee for most championships won by an import.
The same couldn't be said for Cone, whose competitive nature prevented him being truly happy for his former player.
"I'm not the nicest guy when I lose," Cone said. "I'm a little happy for JoJo (Lastimosa). But I don't like losing. He gave me a little bit of a hug. It probably stripped off a little bit.
"He and I are really close. But again, it's painful to lose. (It's the) same thing with (San Miguel Beermen coach) George Gallent and I. George and I are close.
"Maybe not as close as JoJo and I, but George and I are close. George certainly wasn't happy that we beat him as well. Now I've been in George's shoes, I know what it feels like."
The biggest question going forward is whether Lastimosa will go back to his old job of team manager. Officially, this arrangement was only for this conference, but he wouldn't completely discount the possibility of this becoming a permanent gig.
"(The championship) might change everything, but it remains to be seen if this is really a one-off," he admitted.
"I don't know what MVP (team owner Manny V. Pangilinan) will do, and (team governor) Mr. Ricky Vargas will do, and (PLDT president) Mr. Al Panlilio will do. But I'll be ready just in case, you know.
"But I can still be a manager and a coach at the same time. I'm still doing my managerial job, by the way. I haven't lost that one yet."
The league has never had a full-time coach doubling as team manager.
Lastimosa has already accomplished several firsts with his Governors' Cup triumph. Will he add one more?