San Miguel Beermen

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San Miguel Beermen
San Miguel Beermen logo
Founded1975
Withdrew1985, readmitted 1987
HistoryRoyal Tru-Orange
1975-1980
Gold Eagle
1984
Magnolia Ice Cream/Quench Plus/Cheese
1985-1987
San Miguel Beermen
1980-1983; 1987-Present
Team colorsDark red and white
CompanySan Miguel Corporation
Head coachChot Reyes

The San Miguel Beermen (SMB) is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team. The Beermen is a member of the league since its inception in 1975 and holds the most PBA titles with 17.

The team's franchise is owned by the Philippines' largest food and beverage conglomorate, San Miguel Corporation. San Miguel is one of four PBA ball clubs owned by SMC affiliates and subsidiaries. The others are Purefoods Chunkee Giants, Barangay Ginebra Kings and Coca Cola Tigers.

History

San Miguel is one of nine companies who broke away from the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association in 1975 due to their dismay with the Basketball Association of the Philippines. This led to the formation of the first professional basketball league known as the PBA.

MICAA days

San Miguel Beer

Even at the very start, San Miguel Brewery had a team in the pre-war MICAA. And it was similar to the UAAP or the NCAA where basketball was but one of the sports the employees played. There was MICAA competition for baseball, volleyball, football, among other games. But as always it was basketball which became prominent.

A 1971 lineup was mentioned in this thread

San Miguel Braves

  • 4. Belmonte
  • 5. Worley Cuevas
  • 6. Rolando Marcelo
  • 7. Wilfredo Velasco
  • 8. Orlando Castelo
  • 9. Richard Palou
  • 10. Alejandrito Miego
  • 13. Manuel Paner
  • 14. Rosalio Martirez
  • 15. David Regullano
  • 18. Ernesto Estrada
  • 19. Ernesto Morales
  • Coach: Ignacio "Ning" Ramos

For more on the fans account on the famed MICAA, Click here

Royal Tru-Orange

In their first PBA season, they were known as Royal Tru-Orange, an orange juice soda of their parent company San Miguel Corporation under the Coca-Cola brand. Royal finished third place in all three conferences in 1975.

Royal was bannered by center Manny Paner, forward Estoy Estrada and point guard Yoyong Martirez. Both Paner and Estrada made it to the Mythical Team. [1]

That was the time when the team had two imports of unlimited height playing together - these were the 6'9 Otto Moore and the 6'7 Larry Pounds. They faced Toyota in the Finals of that best of five series which they won in four games. Moore and Pounds were backstopped by a crew made up of a lot of Visayan cagers like Tony Torrente, Yoyong Martirez, Jess Migalbin, Salvador Ramas, Melchor Ravanes plus a host of others like Rudy Lalota, Leo Paguntalan, and Marlowe Jacutin. The team was coached by ironically, future Toyota coach Ed Ocampo.

Royal Tru Orange was the second team in PBA history to break the Crispa-Toyota stranglehold as far as winning championships were concerned. The year before, in 1978, UTex was the first team to do so when they beat Crispa for the title. [2]

San Miguel Beermen

San Miguel won the 1982 PBA Invitational tournament, defeating the Crispa Redmanizers in three games with Tommy Manotoc as head coach. Marte Saldana won Rookie of the Year honors that year after coming over from the MICAA ranks. He complemented well with Best Import Award winner Norman Black and was instrumental in San Miguel's winning its second championship in 1982 Invitationals against Crispa. Another Saldaña, Antero or Terry of Toyota was also favored to win the Rookie of the Year award but he instigated a free-for-all against the national team of South Korea and by way of penalty, Terry Saldaña was taken out of the Rookie of the Award race.[3]

After Manotoc left to coach Crispa for the 1983 season (which later resulted in a grand slam), San Miguel (was also known as Gold Eagle Beer) managed to win just one third place finish for the next two seasons. In 1985, Gold Eagle changed its name to Magnolia Quench Plus, a product of an SMC subsidiary, but despite the efforts of import Norman Black, Magnolia failed to enter the championship chase.

Disbandment

Magnolia folded after the 1985 season, this was due to the political climate that happened at the height of the first EDSA Revolution, which led to the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos. Chairman Danding Cojuangco, a well-known Marcos crony fled the country.

Following its disbandment, the former Magnolia players were absorbed by a new PBA team in Alaska Milk for the 1986 season. But the San Miguel franchise emerged under the Magnolia Cheese banner during the final months of the season.

Return to the league

In 1985, the famed Northern Consolidated team won several international basketball tournaments with Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic and Hector Calma, including the PBA Reinforced Conference. The NCC team was funded by Cojuangco, but the program was halted a year later due to the change in government.

With Magnolia's return in 1987, the team absorbed Lim, Calma, Franz Pumaren, Elmer Reyes, Yves Dignadice, Alfie Almario, Franz Pumaren, Pido Jarencio from the core of the NCC team. Magnolia's prized catch, however, was former Crispa, Manila Beer and Tanduay stalwart Abet Guidaben. Import Norman Black began his coaching career at this time.

Magnolia finished third in the Open and All-Filipino Conferences. By the Reinforced tournament, the team reverted back to its old name San Miguel Beer. While the Beermen would later wear their traditional red and white jerseys, they wore a green and white color during the conference.

With Bobby Parks as import, San Miguel was able to win the conference and the franchise's first in five years defeating the Hills Bros Coffeemakers, led by the Bruise Brothers' trio of Yoyoy Villamin and Ricky Relosa, in five games.

Guidaben was named season MVP but not without controversy. Many people thought that Villamin was more deserving than Guidaben.

Grand Slam era

San Miguel continued its winning ways in the 1988 PBA season season by winning the Open Conference that year. After placing fourth in the next conference, San Miguel traded Guidaben to Purefoods for Ramon Fernandez. The trade was executed in the height of a disagreement between Fernandez and Purefoods management. Ricardo Brown was also added from the squad after acquiring the former MVP from Great Taste.

With Fernandez, the Beermen regained won another championship by defeating Shell Rimula-X in the finals of the Reinforced Conference. Fernandez won his fourth and last Most Valuable Player Award.

In 1989, San Miguel began one of the greatest seasons in league history. The Beermen defeated Shell led by Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc in the Open Conference, 4-1. In the All-Filipino Conference, San Miguel defeated a young but hungry Purefoods team in six games. At season's end, San Miguel completed the PBA's third grand slam by trouncing Robert Jaworski's Anejo Rhum 65 in five games with the enlistment of quality import and former Chicago Bull Ennis Whatley.

At the time, San Miguel joined Crispa (1976, 1983) as the only squads to win the coveted grand slam.

"El Presidente" was a prime candidate to win his fifth MVP, but Fernandez was denied by Paras, who became the first and still the only player to win the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in the same season.

Early 1990s

San Miguel went titleless for the next two seasons, but in 1992, San Miguel defeated Purefoods in seven games to capture the All-Filipino Cup. Ato Agustin became a star on the San Miguel lineup winning the Most Valuable Player Award. However, some believe that Swift's Nelson Asaytono could have won it.

Following Presto's (formerly Great Taste) disbandment in 1993, San Miguel acquired shooter Allan Caidic. The trio of Agustin, Samboy Lim and Caidic in 1993 proved to the peak of San Miguel's backcourt strength. It was during this time that San Miguel's back court is the yard stick of all PBA teams at that time.

San Miguel won the Governor's Cup crown with Kenny Travis as import. At this time, it was the Beermen's 10th PBA title, surpassing Toyota for second on the all-time list.

1994 Asian Games

In 1994, the league announced that the winner of the All-Filipino Cup would represent the Philippines in the forthcoming 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. San Miguel faced Coney Island for the championship, which the Beermen won 4-2. However, with several key San Miguel players suffering from multiple injuries, the team had no choice but to add several players from other PBA teams and in the amateur ranks.

Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codiñera and Johnny Abarrientos were among those added to the mix. At one point, San Miguel wore the national team colors during the Commissioner's Cup, only to lose to Swift for third place.

At the Asian Games, the SMB-led national team failed to bag a single medal by ending up in fourth place behind China, Korea, and Japan. Allan Caidic was the Asian Games basketball tournament leading scorer and was named in the Asiad All-Star Mythical Five Team.

After the season, Fernandez announced his retirement from the PBA after a stellar 20 season career that spanned three decades.

In 1995, San Miguel was struggling to maintain its ranks as among the best teams in the league with Sunkist and Alaska were dominating at the time. But San Miguel broke Sunkist's dream of a grandslam by entering the finals of the Governors Cup, only to lose to Alaska in a seven game showdown.

Mid-1990s decline

San Miguel's struggles would continue in 1996, the team finished third in the All-Filipino while nabbing fourth in the season-ending Governor's Cup. Early in the year, San Miguel traded Agustin to Sunkist for known-scorer Nelson Asaytono. The third conference saw the arrival of Lamont Strothers to the PBA. After the season, Norman Black left the team and became the head coach of Mobiline. Replacing him was former NCC coach Ron Jacobs.

Before the 1997 season ever began, controversy surrounded the hiring of Ron Jacobs, due to objections by the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP). The BCAP believes that it endangers the chance of local coaches to enter the PBA. But, Jacobs remained coach of San Miguel for the league's 23rd season.[4]

With San Miguel in a sort of a rebuilding mode, Jacobs was able to mold young players like Olsen Racela, Mike Mustre as well as veterans Asaytono, "Mr. Excitement" Bong Alvarez, Dignadice and Art Dela Cruz into a strong team each conference. San Miguel won third place in all three conferences of the '97 campaign. The Beermen failed to enter the finals in the Commissioner and Governors Cups, respectively, losing in two do-or-die games against Gordon's Gin and Purefoods. Jeff Ward was the import during the second conference while Larry Robinson played for SMB in the third conference.

Asaytono was a candidate to win the Most Valuable Player Award but lost to Purefoods' Alvin Patrimonio.

In 1988, San Miguel drafted Noy Castillo as the second overall pick in the PBA Draft. But, Castillo was quickly shipped to Shell in exchange for National University standout Danny Ildefonso.

The Beermen made a strong showing in the All-Filipino Conference but lost to Alaska in the Finals in seven games. In the Commissioner's Cup, San Miguel brought back Strothers to replace Jeff Ward during the tournament. SMB made its return to the finals but was defeated by Milkmen in the rematch of the All-Filipino Cup, this time in six games.

After the conference, Racela was loaned to the PBA Centennial team. As incentive, all PBA teams were allowed to hire two imports for the Governors Cup. Strothers and Robinson teamed up for San Miguel, but with their height disadvantage against other teams, the Beermen failed to either win the special Centennial Cup or the season-ending Governors Cup.

Ron Jacobs resigned after the season after two seasons with the Beermen. His assistant coach and former NCC protégé Jong Uichico took over as coach.

Late 1990s championship run

New coach Jong Uichico began his first season with San Miguel in 1999. As part of the PBA's new rule to allow each one direct-hire Fil-Foreigner, San Miguel acquired the services of Danny Seigle, younger brother of then Mobiline center Andy, to bolster the team along with former Pop Cola guard Boybits Victoria.

However, San Miguel struggled in the All-Filipino Cup and was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Formula Shell. One of their finest moments was during a match against Mobiline and star center Asi Taulava. San Miguel's 67-66 squeaker on Asaytono's two clutch free-throws handed the Phone Pals its first defeat after winning their first seven games.

In the Commissioner's Cup, San Miguel tapped former Mobiline import Terquin Mott. Mott, a known temperamental player during his first stint in the league, molded well with his local teammates as San Miguel was able to make a strong showing in the elimination round. San Miguel also part way with Asaytono, shipping him to Pop Cola for Nic Belasco and Dwight Lago. The Beermen upset the defending champion Alaska Milkmen in the semis to enter the Finals against All-Filipino winner Formula Shell with Benjie Paras and import John Best. San Miguel won the first two games of the series before Shell tied the series at 2-2. But the Beermen won the last two games to win their 12th PBA crown and their first in five years.

In the Governor's Cup, San Miguel brought back Strothers as the Beermen cruised into the Finals of the said tournament against Alaska. The Milkmen even led the series at 2-1 but San Miguel was able to win the last three games to win their second straight championship in six games.

Seigle was named as the Rookie of the Year at season's end and also threatened to beat Paras for the MVP plum, but the "Tower of Power" won the 1999 MVP.

San Miguel failed to win the 2000 All-Filipino Cup by finishing fourth in the tournament. The Beermen, however, defended the Commissioner's Cup trophy, with NBA veteran Stephen Howard on the lineup, defeating Sta. Lucia. In the Governor's Cup, with Strothers back, they defeated Purefoods in five games for their 15th PBA title.

Danny Ildefonso won his first Most Valuable Player Award at the end of the season.

In 2001, they were favorites to win the All-Filipino Cup and San Miguel did so to enter the finals against sister team Barangay Ginebra and prized rookie Mark Caguioa. After the series was tied at 2-2, SMB survived in overtime to win Game Five and blew out the Kings in Game Six to capture their first All-Filipino title in seven years.

San Miguel was now favored to win the grand slam, but the young Batang Red Bull Thunder upset SMB in the finals of Commissioner's Cup in six games while the Sta. Lucia Realtors, behind former SMB mentor Norman Black defeated his former club 4-2 in the season-ending Governor's Cup.

Ildefonso, meanwhile won his second consecutive MVP in 2001. Some observers though believe that it could have been Ildefonso or teammate Danny Seigle who deserves to win the award.

Post-championship decline

Ildefonso, Racela, newly-acquired Dondon Hontiveros, Seigle and coach Jong Uichico concentrated their time with the RP National team in the 2002 season. Meanwhile, San Miguel was left with only Dorian Pena and Boybits Victoria on the team.

San Miguel fielded in Strothers and later former NBA veteran Mario Bennett for the Governor's Cup. After the Beermen finished eighth in the elimination round, SMB upset the Talk N' Text Phone Pals in the quarterfinals but was eliminated by Alaska in the semi-finals and finished fourth in the tournament. Strothers announced his retirement after the tournament.

In the Commissioner's Cup, San Miguel took Shea Seals and Art Long as import. But the temperamental Long got into a dirty scuffle with Red Bull import Antonio Lang during a game despite San Miguel finishing in fourth after the elimination phase. Terquin Mott replaced Long before the end of the elims. After eliminating Coca-Cola in the quarters, Red Bull eliminated them in the semis before finishing third.

In the All-Filipino, San Miguel was decimated by Danny Seigle's injury with the national team. Racela, Ildefonso and Hontiveros returned for San Miguel but they were eliminated by Coca-Cola in the semis to finished third for the second-straight conference.

San Miguel returned for the 2003 on a bright note. After the elimination round of the All-Filipino, they finished first in Group A to qualify for the quarterfinals phase of the tournament. But the Beermen failed to enter the semis after finishing 1-2 in the single-round robin format.

Their great finish in the All-Filipino helped the Beermen qualify for the Invitational tournament, but San Miguel failed to advance to the semis.

In the first Reinforced Conference in more than a decade, San Miguel fielded in several lemon imports before settling on former Sta. Lucia import Kwan Johnson. After a 0-5 start, San Miguel went 10-3 the rest of the way to enter the Finals, but lost in seven games to the Coca-Cola Tigers.

17th title

San Miguel was once again favorites to win for the 2004-05 season. Art Long made his return as import for San Miguel in the Fiesta Conference, a transition tournament. Long and the Beermen powered its way to a 9-0 start before finishing the tournament in first place after the eliminations. But once again, San Miguel failed to enter the semis after a 1-2 record in the quarterfinals.

In the 2004-2005 Philippine Cup (formerly the All-Filipino Cup), the Beermen finished the classification phase with an even 9-9 record. In the quarterfinals, San Miguel swept the Sta. Lucia Realtors in a three-game series. Then, the Beermen also swept Alaska in the quarterfinals. In the semis against sister rival Barangay Ginebra, the Beermen took a 2-1 series in the best-of-five affair but the Kings won the next two games to win the series, that capped with Rodney Santos' game-winner in the deciding game. The Beermen then beat Shell to cop third-place in the tournament.

Chris Burgess was San Miguel's import for the 2005 Fiesta Conference. San Miguel finished the classification phase in second place to gain an outright semi-finals berth. The Beermen eliminated Red Bull in the semi-finals to enter the finals against the Talk N' Text Phone Pals. Midway to the semis, Burgess was replaced by Ace Custis and became an effective replacement for San Miguel. With Danny Ildefonso regaining his form as well as veterans Olsen Racela, Dondon Hontiveros and Danny Seigle. The Beermen defeated the Phone Pals 4-1 to give the team its 17th PBA title in team history and ended its four year title drought. It was Jong Uichico's sixth PBA crown as coach.

The Beermen today

After their performance a year ago, San Miguel was heavily favored in the 2005-06 Fiesta Conference to defend their crown. They added import Rico Hill to bolster the lineup along with former Shell Turbo Charger Chris Calaguio.

But SMB's high expectations became a disappointment. The Beermen started off with a 0-4 record before winning a game against Air21 Express in Aklan. Hill was replaced by Kwan Johnson but the Beermen lost four more games to fall to 1-8. But the Beermen won the next five games; Johnson was suffering an injury and was temporarily replaced by Kevin Freeman. The Beermen finished with a 6-10 card and eighth place in the nine-team classification phase.

Johnson returned in time for San Miguel against sister team Coca-Cola in the survivor round. The Beermen has a twice to beat edge, but the Tigers won the first encounter on January 6. A day later, Ildefonso's game-winner propelled the Beermen to the next round. In the Wildcard phase against the Express, they end up losing in three games.

Before the start of the 2006 PBA Philippine Cup, San Miguel traded its veteran forward Nic Belasco to the Alaska Aces for guard Brandon Cablay. In a separate move, the Beermen acquired Wesley Gonzales from the Air21 Express and shipped Eugene Tejada to sister team Purefoods. The Express was supposed to send Homer Se to Purefoods, but failed to pass his physical, and was returned to the Air21 squad. The Cablay trade was seen as a preparation for the possible retirement of point guard Olsen Racela.

After a 1-2 start in the tournament, the Beermen won the next eight games before finishing with a 11-5 record. Their second place tally send the Beermen to an outright semifinals berth, a huge improvement from their disappointing run in the Fiesta Conference. The Beermen's surge also saw Danny Seigle's numerous scoring outburst, norming 20 points in almost all of the games he played during the conference.

However, in the semifinals, they were upset by the Red Bull Barako in seven games. San Miguel won Games 2, 4 and the sixth game to level the matchup to a seventh game. However, in Game 7, the Beermen lost on a last second shot by Junthy Valenzuela, eliminating them from the tournament. In a one-game matchup for third place, San Miguel lost to Alaska 102-95 to finish fourth in the Philippine Cup.

Current roster

Players of note

PBA's 25th anniversary all-time team

Other notable players

  • Freddie Abuda
  • Alfie Almario
  • Paul Alvarez
  • Nelson Asaytono
  • Noli Banate
  • Nic Belasco
  • Art dela Cruz
  • Anthony Dasalla
  • Yves Dignadice
  • Estoy Estrada
  • Jeffrey Graves
  • Pido Jarencio
  • Bobby Jose
  • Abe King
  • Rudy Lalota
  • Bokyo Lauchengco
  • Romy Lopez
  • Joey Loyzaga
  • Samboy Lim
  • Yoyong Martirez
  • Jess Migalbin
  • Mike Mustre
  • Jake Pelaez
  • Dong Polistico
  • Franz Pumaren
  • Elmer Reyes
  • Marte Saldana
  • Alvin Teng
  • Julian Rabbi Tomacruz
  • Tony Torrente
  • Tonichi Yturri

Imports

Coaches

  • Ed Ocampo (led Royal to first PBA title in 1979)
  • Tommy Manotoc (led San Miguel to 1982 PBA title)
  • Norman Black (1980's-1996)
  • Ron Jacobs (1997-1998)
  • Pilo Pumaren (1997-1998)
  • Jong Uichico (1999-2006)
  • Chot Reyes (2006-present)

Trivia

  • Four SMB players have won the Most Valuable Player during their tenure with the team. They were Abet Guidaben (1987), Ramon Fernandez (1988), Ato Agustin (1992) and Danny Ildefonso (2000-2001).
  • Four SMB players have won the Rookie of the Year honors in history. They were Marte Saldana (1982), Bong Ravena (1992), Danny Ildefonso (1998) and Danny Seigle (1999).
  • Allan Caidic (1995 Governors Cup), Nelson Asaytono (1997 All-Filipino), Danny Seigle (1999 Governors Cup) and Danny Ildefonso (2000 Commissioners and Governors and 2001 Commissioners and Governors) are the only four San Miguel players to win the Best Player of the Conference Awards.
  • Seven Beermen have won the Best Import Awards in history. They were Norman Black (1982 Reinforced, 1985 Open), Bobby Parks (1987 Open), Kenny Travis (1993 Governors Cup), Jeff Ward (1997 Commissioners Cup), Larry Robinson (1997 Governors Cup), Terquin Mott (1999 Commissioners Cup) and Lamont Strothers (1999 Governors Cup)

External links

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