The Bacolod Tubo Slashers are a Filipino professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; ; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Negros Island Region in the Philippines. With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is th ...

. The team competes in the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...

(MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. The team most recently played its home games at La Salle Coliseum. The team was founded as the Bacolod Master Sardines when it began play in the 2019–20 season and has since undergone multiple monikers. They also took part in FilBasket during the 2022 Summer Championship. The Bacolod franchise is one of two teams based in

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

, the other being the

Cebu Classic The Cebu Classic is a Filipino professional basketball team based in the Cebu metropolitan area. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. The team has played its home g ...

, and previously shared the

Negros Island Region The Negros Island Region (NIR). is an administrative region in the Philippines. Covering both the islands of Negros and Siquijor, the region is composed of three provinces: Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, as well as the ...

with the Negros Muscovados from 2023 to 2024.

History

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

The Bacolod Master Sardines joined the MPBL as an expansion team for the 2019–20 season, becoming one of the first two teams from Western Visayas alongside fellow expansion side Iloilo United Royals. In its inaugural season, Bacolod finished 11–19, 11th in the South Division. In the 2021 MPBL Invitational, the team entered as the All-Star Bacolod Ballers and was drawn into Group A alongside future expansion team Negros Muscovados. In the group stage, the All-Star Ballers finished 3–2, finishing third in the group, failing to make the playoffs. In the 2022 season, reigning Finals MVP

Mark Yee Mark Yee (born January 4, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Abra Solid North Weavers of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). A two-time Philippine Basketball Association champion, Yee has seen much success ...

joined Bacolod. Yee helped bring the team to its first playoff appearance, finished 5th in the South Division with a 14–7 record. Yee went on to win Defensive Player of the Year honors. The team beat fourth-seeded GenSan in the First Round, and forced a Game 3 against first-seeded Zamboanga in the Division Semifinals but ended up losing that game. Before the 2023 season, some of its players, including Yee and Jhan Nermal left the team to join the

Bacoor City Strikers The Bacoor City Strikers were a Filipino professional basketball team, based in Bacoor, Cavite. The team last competed in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and played their home games at Strike Gymnasium. The Strikers also prev ...

. Bacolod dropped to 9th, one game behind 8th-seeded Iloilo to once again miss the playoffs with an 11–17 record. In 2024, nine-time PBA champion

Alex Cabagnot Alexander Cabagnot Jr. (born December 8, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Basilan Viva Portmasters of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and assistant coach for the UE Red Warriors of the University Athl ...

joined as head coach of the team, but ended up not playing for the team and left for the

Converge FiberXers The Converge FiberXers are a professional basketball team owned by Converge ICT. The team competes in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The franchise began after acquiring the former Alaska Aces franchise on March 23, 2022. History ...

mid-season. On January 3, 2025, amid reports of tryouts happening for a new Bacolod team for the upcoming 2025 season, the league clarified that it doesn't recognize such team for next season. The Bacolod franchise would continue competing for the 2025 season.

FilBasket

The team was invited to FilBasket for its 2022 Summer Championship before beginning its 2022 MPBL campaign. Bacolod finished third in the elimination round with seven wins and made the semifinals before losing to the

Nueva Ecija Capitals The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards (shortened as NERV) are a Filipino professional basketball team based in Palayan, Nueva Ecija. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. The ...

in two games.

Team identity

The team's current identity derives from Bacolod's moniker as the "City of Smiles" in the country. The alternate name, ''Maskaras'', alludes to the MassKara Festival which is held in Bacolod city.

Roster

Head coaches

Notable players

Individual award winners

MPBL Defensive Player of the Year *

–

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

MPBL All-Star Day

All-Star selections * Paolo Javelona –

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

–

* Louie Vigil –

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

PBA players

Ex-PBA players * Harold Arboleda *

Mac Tallo Mark Jayven "Mac" Tallo (born January 2, 1994) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Pangasinan Heatwaves franchise of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and Pilipinas Super League (PSL). Career First PBA stint T ...

Drafted to PBA * Simon Camacho – 34th overall,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Season-by-season records

MPBL

''Note: Statistics are correct as of the end of the

2024 MPBL season The 2024 MPBL season was the sixth season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and its third under professional status. The regular season began on April 6, 2024 with the opening ceremonies at the Calasiao Sports Complex in Calas ...

.''

References

{{navboxes, list= {{MPBL {{Visayas Sports MPBL teams 2019 establishments in the Philippines Basketball teams established in 2019 Sports in Negros Occidental