Caloocan Batang Kankaloo

The Caloocan Batang Kankaloo, also shortened as the Batang Kankaloo, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in Caloocan. The team primarily competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as one of 11 active teams based in Metro Manila. Caloocan is also one of two teams based in the Northern Manila District, also known as Camanava, the other team being Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc., playing their home games at Caloocan Sports Complex. The team began play in the 2018 MPBL season as one of the MPBL's charter teams.

The team has also participated in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) since the 2022–23 DUMPER Cup and currently go by the Caloocan Supremos, the team's original name.

Since its founding, the team is owned by the City Government of Caloocan.

History

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

2018–2020: Caloocan Supremos

In 2017, the Caloocan Supremos joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League as one of the ten charter teams in its inaugural season. The team played in the league's inaugural game against the Parañaque Patriots, but lost, 60-70. The team only won one game in their inaugural season, giving them the worst record that season.

In the 2018–19 season, despite finishing with a losing record, Caloocan was tied with the Pampanga Lanterns for the final playoff spot, which Caloocan would clinch because of their victory in the teams' head-to-head matchup. The team was then swept in the First Round by the first-seeded Bataan Risers.

In the 2019–20 season, even though the team finished with a winning record, they only finished ninth in the Northern Division.

2021–2022: Caloocan Excellence

For the 2021 Invitational, the team changed their name to the Caloocan Excellence. In the following 2022 season, Caloocan would once again fall short, finishing ninth in the Northern Division.

2023: Caloocan Batang Kankaloo

In 2023, the team changed their name to the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo, matching the team's name in the PSL. Caloocan would launch a Junior MPBL team under the same name under sponsor Decena Foundation, but was later relocated to Mindoro shortly after the opening ceremonies. The veteran-led Caloocan squad managed to finish with the team's best record yet, a 20–8 record, and clinching a top 4 seed for the first time. In the First Round, the team had a tough matchup against Pasig City MCW Sports, but made it through in a close series that went to game 3. Unfortunately, they would go on to be swept by the Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the Division Semifinals.

Pilipinas Super League

In 2022, the team joined the Pilipinas Super League for the 2022–23 DUMPER Cup, and subsequently changed its name to the Batang Kankaloo. Batang Kankaloo would also be used as the name of its under-18 team. The team tied for the fourth-best record alongside the Pampanga G Lanterns and Santa Rosa, but settled for the sixth-seed. In the playoffs, the Batang Kankaloo lost to the Pampanga Royce in the Quarterfinals.

During the 2023–24 MPBL off-season, the team returned to the PSL, this time going by its original name, the Caloocan Supremos.

Team identity

From 2018 until 2020, the Caloocan Supremos used an orange and blue color scheme. The logo showed a graphic of the Bonifacio Monument on top of a basketball. An outline of a Victory Liner bus, the team's sponsor at the time, is also shown.

In 2021, upon renaming to the Caloocan Excellence, blue was replaced with green, forming an orange and green color scheme. The logo was a simple text with the team name, but with the Bonifacio Monument replacing the "L" in Caloocan. The simple text logo would carry over with the name change to Batang Kankaloo in 2022, albeit with a font change. ''Batang Kankaloo'' is normally used as a term to represent the people of Caloocan.

In 2023, during the team's second PSL stint, the team returned to the original ''Supremos'' name, now with the orange and green color scheme.

Season-by-season records

''This is a list of the last five seasons completed by Caloocan. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Caloocan Batang Kankaloo seasons.''

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, PCT = Winning percentage''

Current roster

Head coaches

Notable players

References

2017 establishments in the Philippines
Basketball teams established in 2017

Sports teams in Metro Manila
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League teams

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