The 1988 PABL season is the sixth season of the
Philippine Amateur Basketball League (PABL).
Notable achievements
The Swift-PABL selection won the 3rd Asian Interclub basketball tournament held in
Jakarta, Indonesia
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
from April 9–18. Among the teams who participated were
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of ...
of Korea,
Pandan Jaya
Pandan Jaya is a township in Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states an ...
of Malaysia, Asaba Club of Indonesia,
Liaoning
Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...
of China, Armed Forces of Singapore, and Orthodox of Jordan. Swift-PABL, coached by Nat Canson, defeated title-favorite Liaoning of China, 84–69, in the finale to complete a seven-game sweep.
The players of the Swift-PABL selection were honored during the opening ceremonies of the International Invitational Cup semifinal round. Among those who received their plaques of recognition were Gilbert Reyes,
Ric-Ric Marata
Ricardo "Ric-Ric" Marata (December 21, 1964 – April 17, 2010) was a Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association.
Basketball career
Ric-ric played three years for Southwestern University under coach Bo ...
,
Ato Agustin
Renato Guilas Agustin (born August 1, 1963) is a Filipino former professional basketball player, politician, and current assistant coach for the San Miguel Beermen. He played college basketball for the Lyceum of the Philippines before moving on ...
,
Paul Alvarez
Paul Beleno "Bong" Alvarez (born June 15, 1968) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. Dubbed as "Mr. Excitement" because of his high-leaping, slam-dunking acts.
Basketball career
At the ...
,
Nelson Asaytono
Nelson Asaytono (born January 25, 1967) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who played for Purefoods, Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola, San Miguel Beer, and Red Bull in the PBA during his 17-year career.
Collegiate / Amateur career
Asa ...
, Peter Aguilar and Hernani Demigillo.
International Invitational Cup
The season opens on March 19. PBA superstar
Robert Jaworski
Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr. (; born March 8, 1946) is a Filipino former professional basketball player, head coach and politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1998 to 2004. He played 23 seasons in the Philippine Bas ...
and Representative
Freddie Webb
Freddie Nelle Webb (born November 24, 1942) is a Filipino retired basketball player and coach, former politician, and television and radio personality.
Education
He completed his elementary education at San Beda College and his degree in Bach ...
were the guest of honors in the opening ceremonies. The Prelims determined the top three local teams, National Open champion RFM-Swifts and Philips Sardines are tied with six wins and two losses. Sta.Lucia Realtors, Mama's Love and Magnolia Ice Cream were at second place with similar 5-3 won-loss cards. In a playoff game to determine the third outright semifinal seat, the Realtors drew bye, Mama's Love beat Magnolia, 85-73 on April 18, and on the following day on April 19, Sta.Lucia advances outright with a 93-91 win over Mama's Love.
The six remaining teams battle for the last two semifinal slots and at the end of the single round, Magnolia Ice Cream made it 5-0 while Purefoods took the last ticket at 4-1. In the penultimate day of the eliminations, Agfa Colors default its game against Converse because its head coach did not bother to read the new schedule handed to him. The Color Specialists protested the default and when the decision of the board was handed the next day, Agfa was squaring off with Purefoods and upon learning the protest was turned down, Agfa coach Eddie Reyes pulled out his first stringers to deliberately lose the game. Converse coach Jun Celis protested the action of Agfa, the All-Stars finish with three wins and two losses and had a chance to tie Purefoods had Agfa played its heart out.
Three seeded foreign teams participated in the semifinal round,
Isuzu Motors of Japan, which had two 6-9 Americans; Ted Young and
Dale Roberts, a sixth-round draftee of the Detroit Pistons in 1984, in the lineup.
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
representing Canada and Pelita Jaya of Indonesia, which had Daryl Smith and Gerardo Ramos as imports.
RFM-Swift's and Philips Sardines went on to play in the Best-of-three title series. The Hotdogs defeated the Sardine Masters, two games to one, winning the deciding third game in overtime, 99-93. Ricric Marata's jumper with 10 seconds left in regulation tied the count at 85-all and send the game into an extension period.
Ric-Ric Marata
Ricardo "Ric-Ric" Marata (December 21, 1964 – April 17, 2010) was a Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association.
Basketball career
Ric-ric played three years for Southwestern University under coach Bo ...
and
Alvin Patrimonio
Alvin Dale Vergara Patrimonio (born November 17, 1966) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player from the Philippine Basketball Association and is the current team manager for the Magnolia Hotshots.
Patrimonio holds several PBA re ...
combined to spell the difference in the five-minute extension.
Benjie Paras
Venancio Johnson Paras Jr. (born October 2, 1968), better known as Benjie Paras, is a Filipino actor, comedian, and a retired professional basketball player who played for Shell Turbo Chargers and San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketb ...
of Philips Sardines was named the tournament's reigning Most Valuable Player.
Freedom Cup
Mama's Love decided not to participate in the second conference. The six teams which made it to the semifinal round were Philips Sardines, Agfa Colors and Converse, the three teams which topped the eliminations to make it outright, joining them were RFM-Swifts, Magnolia and Sta.Lucia. In a one-round semifinals, Magnolia clinch the first finals berth with a 4-1 won-loss card, routing Swifts, 117-95, in their last assignment. The Sta.Lucia Realtors, which won their first three semis outing, took the other seat and will play the Ice Cream Makers in the finals.
Sta.Lucia with new coach Nemie Villegas, replacing Nat Canson at the start of the Freedom Cup, won the first game of the title series, 96-80. The Ice Cream Makers, who haven't beaten the Realtors in all four previous meetings, took the second game, 111-107, to tie the series and send the championship to a winner-take-all match. In the third and final game, Magnolia escaped with an 87-86 victory over Sta.Lucia to capture their third PABL title in a 2-1 series victory.
Maharlika Cup
The third conference opens on October 15 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum with newcomers Burger City, Silver Horizon and the returning Concrete Aggregates Corporation. During the opening rites, the Board decided to adopt the theme "Unity For Sports Development". The eight participating teams play a single-round prelims with the top four advancing to the semifinal round, the next four teams will be joined by
Shakey's
Shakey's Pizza is a pizza restaurant chain based in the United States. Founded in 1954, it was the first franchise pizza chain in the United States. In 1968, the chain had 342 locations. The chain had about 500 stores globally, and 58 in the Uni ...
-Baguio and Marsman Estate Plantation of Davao in another single round to determined the last two teams qualifying in the semis. McDonald's of Taiwan is the lone guest foreign squad and will be seeded in the semifinals.
RFM-Swift Hotdogs were on top of the team standings after the eliminations with six wins and one loss, followed by Magnolia and Sta.Lucia, tied with five wins and two losses. Philips Sardines makes it outright with an 86-73 win against Concrete Aggregates in a playoff game on November 12.
In the next round, Concrete Aggregates withdrew because of a depleted line-up, leaving only five teams to dispute the last two slots. Shakey's-Baguio enters the semifinal round and Burger City completed the cast with a 73-72 playoff win over Agfa Color Films on December 1.
Magnolia Ice Cream and Philips Sardine Canners advances into the championship round with similar 5-1 won-loss record in the semifinals. Philips beat Magnolia, 93-83, on the last playing date on December 14 to close the door on the finals' hopes of McDonald's/Taipei. Philips Sardines won their first-ever PABL crown, blowing out defending champion Magnolia Ice Cream in the final half of a decisive 103-86 victory in Game three and a 2-1 series win. As expected,
Benjie Paras
Venancio Johnson Paras Jr. (born October 2, 1968), better known as Benjie Paras, is a Filipino actor, comedian, and a retired professional basketball player who played for Shell Turbo Chargers and San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketb ...
of Philips was the runaway MVP winner.
Controversies
Five teams namely Purefoods, Agfa Colors, Converse, Philips Sardines and
AFPSLAI
The Armed Forces and Police Savings & Loan Association, Inc. ''(AFPSLAI)'' is a banking corporation in the Philippines associated with the Philippine military and police.
As of 2016, it had 69 billion Philippine dollars in assets, which are exem ...
troopers, tried to form a breakaway group during the months of July with a so-called National Amateur Basketball Association (NABA) as they were against the leadership of PABL chairman Joey Concepcion. BAP President Gonzalo "Lito" Puyat has spoken he cannot sanction the supposed new league.
References
External links
www.philippinebasketball.ph
{{Philippine Basketball League seasons
1988 Philippine Amateur Basketball League season
1988 in Philippine basketball