Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

Barangay Ginebra Kings
Barangay Ginebra Kings
Founded	1979
History	Gilbey's Gins 1979-1980, 1982-1984 St. George Whiskies 1981 Ginebra San Miguel Gins 1985-1987, 1991-1993, 1995, 1998 Añejo Rhum 65ers 1988-1990 Tondeña 65 Rhummasters 1994 Gordon's Gin Boars 1996-1997 Barangay Ginebra Kings 1999-present
Team Colors	Red and white
Head Coach	Siot Tanquincen
Owner	Ginebra San Miguel Inc.
Championships	6 (1986 Reinforced, 1988 All Filipino, 1991 1st Conf., 1997 Commissioner's, 2004 Fiesta, 2004-2005 Philippines)

Barangay Ginebra Kings is a professional team of the Philippine Basketball Association founded in 1979. It is one, if not the most popular team, in the league.

Barangay Ginebra uses the trademark run-and-gun offense, which excites the fans during games. Defensively, they are known to play physical, employing a suffocating man-to-man defense. They are also known for their "never say die" attitude by coming back from deficits during games and upsetting better-ranked teams.

History

Gilbey's Gin

Joining the league in 1979, it was known as Gilbey's Gin of then-owner Carlos Palanca Jr.'s La Tondeña franchise. It's first head coach was Pilo Pumaren and was bannered by former MICAA standout Willie Tanduyan and imports Larry McNeil and Dean Tolson. Gilbey's managed to placed fourth in the 1979 Invitational tournament.

Willie Generalao won the Rookie of the Year honors during the 1980 season as Gilbey's placed fourth in the All-Filipino tournament.

Gilbey's also changed its name one time as St. George Whiskies when they had a bunch of young teenagers acting as cheerleaders. [1].

In 1982, the Gin's made it to their first Finals appearance during the Open Conference. But, they were swept by Toyota team of coach Ed Ocampo, Robert Jaworski, and Ramon Fernandez.

Gilbey's made another finals appearance in the 1983 All-Filipino but was also swept by Tommy Manotoc's Crispa Redmanizers in the first of three titles won by the fabled Redmanizers squad.

Before the 1984 season, Toyota announced its departure from the league after winning nine titles in nine seasons. As part of an agreement with new team Beer Hausen, the rights of the Toyota players will be acquired by Beer Hausen. The team owned by Lucio Tan is entering its first year in the PBA.

Jaworski and backcourt partner Francis Arnaiz refused to join the Beer Hausen team. This led to a well-publicized feud between Jaworski and Fernandez over the next several years. With this development, Gilbey's accepted Jaworski, Arnaiz and Arnie Tuadles to name a few while several Toyota players, led by Fernandez, joined Beer Hausen.

Gilbey's suffered another loss in the championship as the Crispa Redmanizers defeated the Gins, 4-1, giving Crispa its last PBA title.

Ginebra San Miguel

By 1985, Gilbey's was renamed as Ginebra San Miguel. At this time, the team slowly began to draw an enormous amount of support from the fans. The reason for this could either be, that some Toyota fans began to align themselves with Jawo's Ginebra team, or an incident in a game against Northern Consolidated as suggested by one fan from the MYPBA.com forums:

In 1985, Ginebra established itself as the "people's team" when they displayed their never-say-die attitude on court. The biggest manifestation was when their leader, Jaworski came back from the nearby Medical City with seven stitches in his lip to lead the Gins to a come-from-behind victory against NCC. Jaworski incurred this from a wayward elbow inflicted by Jeff Moore in the second canto. But with them behind by 15 points going into the final seven minutes of the game, Jaworski re-entered the court and sparked a frenzy that to date, has yet been matched. The NCC team simply froze upon sight of the Big J and didn't know what hit them, eventually losing to the Gins. [2]

Despite the team's growing number of fan support, Ginebra failed to enter the finals in each of the three conferences in 1985, showing only a strong third place finish in the Reinforced Conference.

Michael Hackett also saw his name in the PBA record books by scoring 103 points in Ginebra's 197-168 victory against Great Taste on November 21, 1985. This was later broken by Swift's Tony Harris in a 1992 game, ironically, against Ginebra.

Former Crispa import Billy Ray Bates was brought in for the 1986 Reinforced Conference. Each PBA team was allowed to get two imports for the said conference. Bates' other partner was Michael Hackett, who was the 1985 Open Conference Best Import. It is believed that the pair was the greatest import tandem in PBA history.

The super imports combined to lead Ginebra in the finals of the tournament against Manila Beer with imports Michael Young and Harold Keeling. It was also the first finals encounter of Jaworski and Fernandez. Bates and Hackett powered Ginebra to a convincing 4-1 win in the series to give the team its first-ever championship.

After the season, Francis Arnaiz suddenly left for the U.S. and ended his 11-year PBA career and popular backcourt tandem with Jaworski.

By 1987, Bates was already fading and was replaced during one of the import-laced conferences. Ginebra won third place in the Reinforced Conference.

Añejo Rhum 65

In 1988, Ginebra changed their name to Añejo Rhum with the team already gaining a rugged style of play. Añejo took on new team Purefoods in the finals of the All-Filipino Conference. Añejo won the series 3-1 over the young Purefoods team led by Jerry Codinera and Jojo Lastimosa (who was believed to have a confrontation with Jaworski). At that time Mon Fernandez was benched by Purefoods management for alleged game-fixing. In the final game, three Ginebra players scored 25 points or more - Joey Loyzaga, Dondon Ampalayo and Sonny Jaworski as the Gins didn't allow the then rookie-laden Purefoods team to gain confidence, winning by a comfortable 9 point margin. Of course, the game was close all throughout until the final 3 minutes of the game when Loyzaga and Jaworski uncorked timely 3 pointers that sealed the fate of Purefoods. [3]

On the next season, Añejo lost in five games to the grand slam winning San Miguel Beer.

In 1990, Añejo entered the finals of the First Conference against Benjie Paras and the Shell Rimula X team. In Game six, with Shell already leading the series 3-2, Añejo protested a foul on Rey Cuenco with a few minutes left in the second quarter. This led to the famed walk out of Anejo. The team also complained about the unfavorable officiating as the team had more fouls than Shell. In the end, the game was forfeited and awarded the title to Shell.

The result of this event gave the team a fine of more 500,000 pesos which was then the highest fine in league history.

Back to Ginebra San Miguel

In 1991, Añejo reverted back to Ginebra. They met Shell once again in the 1991 First Conference title series. Shell got the upper hand by taking a 3-1 series, needing only a win to clinch the series. But Ginebra managed a furious comeback in to forced a seventh game. In the final seconds of Game seven, an off-balanced shot by Rudy Distrito with a second remaining sealed Ginebra's third PBA title and completed one of the greatest comebacks in PBA history.

Ginebra placed third in the 1992 Third Conference but at that time the team was starting to fade.

In 1993, Ginebra compiled a record of 9-26 win-loss slate in all three conferences. This horrible performance gave them the top pick in the next draft.

In 1994, in an effort to change their fortunes, the team was renamed as Tondeña Rhum 65. The team selected Noli Locsin with their first pick, and was hoped by many fans to save the team for the season. But Tondeña's struggles continued, winning just 12 of the 32 games that year.

In 1995, the team reverted again to Ginebra. They selected 7-0 center Edward Joseph Feihl and also drafted Jaworski's son, Robert Jr. Unfortunately, misfortunes still struck the team as Ginebra won only 5 of the 30 games played that year.

In 1996, Ginebra used the top overall pick to draft controversial center Marlou Aquino from Adamson University. Aquino was a big star in the PBL for Nikon and Stag Pale Pilsen but was involved in a controversial scandal in terms of his academic status with Adamson although it was somewhat neglected when he jumped pro. Aquino showed the promise Ginebra fans expected during the All-Filipino Conference as Ginebra won fourth place that tournament. It also showed the discovery of former UST point guard Bal David as one of the team's popular players along with Vince Hizon, Jayvee Gayoso and Pido Jarencio.

In the Commissioners Cup, the team was paraded by NBA veteran Henry James as Ginebra wound up in a knockout match against familiar rival Formula Shell. Kenny Redfield's buzzer-beating three enabled Ginebra to enter the finals.Ginebra finally entered the finals of the Governors Cup but lost to the grand slam winning Alaska Milkmen in five games.

Aquino's impact on Ginebra gave the team a 30-game improvement from a year ago and was named as the Rookie of the Year.

Gordon's Gin Boars

In 1997, Ginebra was renamed once again, this time as the Gordon's Gin Boars. Gordon's was now considered as a title favorite for the league's 23rd season.

One of the most memorable shots in team history was Bal David's final second heave from half-court to defeat San Miguel by a point during the All-Filipino Cup.

Gordon's entered the finals of the All-Filipino against the Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys. Purefoods managed to take a 3-1 series lead. In Game five, they were about to score a winning basket after a Gordon's turnover. But Vince Hizon blocked Dindo Pumaren's layup, as the Boars lived another day. Unfortunately, in Game six, the strong performance of Alvin Patrimonio and company denied Gordon's a title losing the series 4-2. The loss marked Jaworski's (playing coach) last game with the La Tondeña franchise and did not enter himself in a game since.

In the Commissioners Cup, NBA veteran Chris King became a replacement in time for the semis of the tournament. Gordon's met sister-team San Miguel in a knockout semifinal match. It was a true classic game that went to double overtime and saw several comebacks by Gordon's. The Boars won, 105-101, to meet Alaska in the finals. Gordon's eventually defeated Alaska in six games for their first title in six years. Jaworski got into the mic and thanked the Gordon's Gin fans for their support.

Expectations were high for the Governors Cup, but they were eliminated by Sta. Lucia in the quarterfinals.

In 1998, Jaworski ran for a senatorial seat for the elections which he won by a lot of votes. This led to a conflict between Jaworski's role in the Senate and his role as coach of Ginebra (named during the Commissioners Cup). Assistant Rino Salazar was named as interim at one point. Ginebra still struggled despite the addition of Bong Alvarez to the team.

That year, Danding Cojuangco regained ownership of San Miguel Corporation. One of the moves the team made was adding Allan Caidic from San Miguel Beer. This caused a rift between Jaworski and the new management because he was not informed of the move. In a press conference held at the Senate, Jaworski resigned as playing coach of Ginebra.

To this day, Jaworski hasn't announced his retirement, but before he quit his post, he was considered the oldest basketball player on any roster at 52 years of age.

Barangay Ginebra Kings

After Jaworski left, the team still enjoyed popularity. The chant of Ginebra! Ginebra! filled the air wherever the team was playing. It is said that their fans can compose a barangay, hence the phrase Barangay Ginebra came to denote the team's legions of fans.

In 1999, the team was called Barangay Ginebra. Now, "Barangay Ginebra" did not only denote to the fans of the team, but to the club as well. It is often said that wherever Ginebra plays, it is their homecourt.

In the All-Filipino, Brgy. Ginebra only managed to finish eighth in the eliminations, and needed to win twice against the first-seeded Mobiline Phone Pals team of Asi Taulava. The Kings managed to forced a knockout match, winning the first game. In the decider, Brgy. Ginebra came back from a 20 point deficit and Bal David's off-balance game-winner resulted in one of the biggest upsets in league history to advance to the next round. Taulava was seen crying in disappointment after the game. In the semis, they were eliminated by eventual champion Shell. that was marred by a scuffle in Game One of the series.

Noli Locsin was later traded to Pop Cola for the acrobatic Vergel Meneses but it still didn't help the Kings throughout the season. Allan Caidic replaced Rino Salazar as the team's head coach.In the offseason, Marlou Aquino was also traded, this time to Sta Lucia for Jun Limpot.

Brgy. Ginebra was eliminated early in the quarterfinals by Tanduay in the 2000 All-Filipino Cup as well as the Commissioner's Cup. With Brian Green as import for the Governors' Cup, the Kings tried to repeat the same result of the 1999 All-Filipino against Mobiline. But the Phone Pals were able to beat Brgy. Ginebra in the knockout match.

In the 2001 PBA Draft, Barangay Ginebra drafted Fil-American Mark Caguioa, a virtual unknown in the Philippine basketball scene. Despite that, Caguioa showed brillance during the All-Filipino, earning his current nickname The Spark. The Kings finished fifth in the eliminations and faced Purefoods in the quarterfinals. In a repeat of the events of two years ago, the Kings defeated the TJ Hotdogs twice, after an off-balanced game-winner by Ronald Magtulis to enter the semis.

The Kings faced Shell in a five-game affair and Brgy Ginebra upset the top-seeded Turbo Chargers in five games to meet sister team San Miguel. Barangay Ginebra trailed 0-2 but won the next two games to tie the series at 2-2. In the end though, the Beermen won the series in six games.

Ginebra's success in the All-Filipino were not duplicated in the import-laced Commissioners and Governors Cup as they were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

After the season, the Kings acquired Eric Menk from Tanduay to solidy their frontline for the 2002 season.

In 2002, Menk was loaned to the Philippine team and the Kings struggled throughout the Governors' and Commissioner's Cups, once again failing to enter the semis. In the All-Filipino, Menk made his Ginebra debut but the team did not enter the quarterfinals.

Romel Adducul finally made his PBA debut after his years with the Metropolitan Basketball Association. Barangay Ginebra selected the former San Sebastian College Stag as the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft.

His addition though, did not help Ginebra's fortune to change for the 29th season. In the All-Filipino conference, they were eliminated by eventual champions, Talk N' Text Phone Pals in the quarterfinals. They also failed to qualify for the Invitational tournament, after being eliminated by eventual champions, Alaska Aces in the qualifying rounds. In the season ending Reinforced conference, they were knocked out by sister team and eventual champions, Coca Cola Tigers in the quarterfinals.

Back-to-back titles

At the start of the 2004 Fiesta Conference, Caidic was promoted to team manager and was replaced by former San Miguel assistant coach Siot Tanquincen. One of Tanquincen's best moves was to give more playing time Jayjay Helterbrand over veteran Bal David, who was nursing an injury. His partnership with Mark Caguioa was later dubbed by ABC Sports commentators as the "Fast and the Furious." The team also traded Jun Limpot and Rob Johnson to sister team Purefoods in exchange for Rodney Santos and Andy Seigle. The changes helped Ginebra to become a strong team during the season.

And in July 7, 2004, Barangay Ginebra ended a 7-year title drought when they defeated Red Bull Barako in a best of 5 finals, 3-1, capturing the transition 2004 Fiesta Conference. During that time Torraye Braggs was their import player. It was actually a total miracle as the team was only seeded 7th after the classification rounds. In the sudden death wildcard phase, they came back from a 21-point deficit to beat the Sta. Lucia Realtors. In the quarterfinal round, they had a 2-1 record, good enough to make it to the semifinals. In the best of 3 semifinals, they eventually survived the Talk N' Text Phone Pals in Game 3 on their way to the finals.

In February 11, 2005, Barangay Ginebra proved that the last championship was not a fluke by winning the next conference, the 2004-2005 Philippine Cup, a conference without imports. They dethroned the defending champions Talk N' Text Phone Pals, 4-2, in a controversial best of 7 finals series. Game One was forfeited in favor of Ginebra when Phone Pals star center Asi Taulava, who was ineligible to play, entered the game. His citizenship case was still on the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation. Since Taulava wasn't cleared by the league to play, the first game was forfeited. Barangay Ginebra Kings carried the momentum and went on to win the championship. This was also the first time in franchise history that they won back-to-back championships.

Back to-back heartbreaks

In the 2004-2005 Fiesta Conference, Barangay Ginebra had a chance to rewrite history by winning the last possible 3-conference championship Grand Slam. Unfortunately, obstacles such as import problems, injury to star point guard Jayjay Helterbrand and the suspension of future MVP Eric Menk due to citizenship issues, made the team struggle throughout the conference. They placed 9th of 10 teams in the conference after being swept by Red Bull Barako in the best of 3 wildcard phase of the playoffs. Red Bull Barako took 4th place after being defeated by eventual champions, and Ginebra's sister team, San Miguel Beermen.

In the 2005-2006 Fiesta Conference, Barangay Ginebra was seeded to the semifinals after winning the 2nd seed playoff against Red Bull Barako. Original import Sean Lampley was later replaced by former Auburn University standout Chris Porter to strengthen Ginebra's quest to regain the Fiesta Conference title, but his addition was not enough to help the Kings reach the Finals.

They faced Red Bull Barako themselves in the semifinals,and eventually lost in the series, 4-3. But the Kings showed real fighting heart as they came back and tied the series, after being down 1-3. It was an emotional series for the fans, who were expecting for a repeat of the one and only comeback win from a 1-3 deficit in PBA History, a feat which was achieved by the team itself before, way back in the 1991 First Conference, when the team defeated Formula Shell Super Unleaded in seven games.

After the series, coach Siot Tanquincen, apologized to the legion of the team's fans. It was also revealed that Mark Caguioa was suffering from a hamstring injury throughout the series. Barangay Ginebra battled Air21 Express for 3rd place honors but lost. In that game, an evidently lackluster Barangay Ginebra team played, which was believed to be still emotionally down from their game 7 defeat. Red Bull Barako eventually won the championship against the Purefoods Chunkee Giants in six games.

The Kings today

In the current Philippine Cup, Barangay Ginebra has a 2-1 win-loss record and is considered to be one of the favorites to win the crown. They are the defending champions for this tournament.

Controversies

Jaworski and Fernandez, two former Toyota teammates, engaged in a well-publicized feud in 1984. Apparently, Toyota's players were sold to new team Beer Hausen. Jaworski, in utter defiance, refused to play for Beer Hausen and joined Ginebra. Fernandez got mad about this incident which probably began the feud between the two. However, in the 1989 All-Star Game, Jaworski and Fernandez were teammates for the Veterans. In the final seconds, with the game tied, Jaworski's pass to Fernandez led to the Veterans escaping a 132-130 win against the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors team in the inagural All-Star Game. Afterwards, Jawo and Fernadez shook hands to the delight of the capacity crowd at ULTRA which signalled the reconcillation between the two legends.
An account of the famous 1990 walkout and another fight in 1999 has been put by a fan from MYPBA.com:

May 15, 1990 - Shell wins title (4-2) when Añejo walks out with still 2:52 left in 2nd quarter and score at 62-47 in favor of Zoom Masters. Back-to-back technical fouls slapped by referee Rudy Hines on Añejo's Rey Cuenco triggers walkout. Enraged Añejo fans pepper the court with coins, paper cups and assorted debris. Despite pleas from PBA officials, Añejo coach Robert Jaworski and team manager Bernabe Navaro refuse to order players to return to court, prompting officials to declare Shell champion by forfeiture. It is the 2nd time in PBA history that Finals series ends in forfeiture; the other one was when Crispa also forfeited Game 4 of its best-of-5 series against Toyota in the 1975 2nd Conference.

May 17, 1990 - Añejo is slapped fine of P550,000, biggest ever, for walking out in Game 6.

May 17, 1999 - In a separate incident, the PBA slaps P235,000 in fines to 16 players and 1 official who figured in bench-clearing brawl in Game 2 of Shell-Ginebra semifinal series on May 16. Shell's Jay Mendoza, who triggered the incident, was fined P40,000. Ginebra's Noli Locsin, Elmer Lago, Cris Bolado, and Teodoro "Boy" Valera were fined P20,000 each.

Robert Jaworski resigned as player-coach after the 1998 season after complaining about the hiring of Allan Caidic as playing-assistant. Jaworski complained that he wasn't given notice by the new SMC management about the hiring which led to his resignation.
Ginebra fans are known for peltering debris whenever they felt that officiating was poor. It was joked by many that the coins that the fans threw are collected by the referees. However, it is somewhat rare to see such incidents these days due to either proper security measures, especially at the private owned Araneta Coliseum or the poor attendance that the league has been suffering.

Players of note

PBA Hall of Famers

Robert Jaworski, known as the "The Big J", "The Living Legend" and "Jawo", he was playing coach of Ginebra from his arrival in 1984 to his resignation in 1998. He is argubly the most popular player in Ginebra history.
Francis Arnaiz, a glamour boy back from his days with Toyota, joined Jaworski at Gilbey's Gin and became one of the most popular Ginebra players in history. He retired after the 1986 season after three seasons with the team.
Allan Caidic
Philip Cezar
Vergel Meneses

Other notable players

Dondon Ampalayo
Terry Saldaña
Chito Loyzaga
Dante Gonzalgo
Leo Isaac
Rudy Distrito , known as "The Destroyer", he hit the marginal game winning shot that completed Ginebra's comeback win from a 1-3 series deficit against Formula Shell Super Unleaded in 1991.
Bal David, known as "The Flash", he was loved by the fans because of his memorable buzzer beater shots.
Marlou Aquino - "The Skyscraper"
Noli Locsin - "The Tank"
Vince Hizon - "The Prince"
Pido Jarencio - "The Fireman"
Javyee Gayoso - "Mr. Adrenaline"
Vergel Meneses - "The Aerial Voyager"

Current players

Eric Menk, known as "Major (first as Sergeant) Pain", he is the first and only Ginebra player to become MVP. He did it during the 2004-2005 season.
Mark Caguioa, known as "The Spark", he became the PBA Rookie of the Year in 2001.
Jayjay Helterbrand, known as "The Fast" his backcourt tandem with Mark Caguioa was dubbed as The Fast and the Furious. He also became All-Star game MVP in 2005.
Rommel Adducul, known as "The General", he was Ginebra's No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 PBA Draft and became part of the 2005 PBA Mythical Second Team.
Rodney Santos, known as "Hot Rod" and "The Slasher", he is considered as Robert Horry of the PBA, for his clutch baskets during crunchtime.

Imports

Billy Ray Bates
Michael Hackett
Henry James
Chris King

External links