1993 Philippine Basketball League season explained

1993 PBL season
Year:	1993
Duration:	March 27 - December 22, 1993
No Of Teams:	6 + 1
Tv:	IBC
Mvp:	Rey Evangelista Dennis Espino
Conf1:	Maharlika Cup
Conf1 Link:	1993 PBL Maharlika Cup
Conf1 Champ:	Nikon Home Partners
Conf1 Runner-Up:	Burger Machine
Conf2:	President Ramos Cup
Conf2 Link:	1993 President Ramos Cup
Conf2 Champ:	Burger Machine
Conf2 Runner-Up:	Instafood
Nextseason Year:	1994

The 1993 season of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).

League crisis

With the massive exodus of top amateur players to the pro ranks, the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) suffered and were in a state of being a slowly dying league, when it opened on March 27 at the Cuneta Astrodome, there was no TV nor radio coverage, the media and the sports pages didn't give the PBL the much needed attention and the biggest stumbling block was no network was willing to air the PBL games and it is still doubtful whether the league will have its own television coverage for the season.

Occurrences

• The Triple-V Foodmasters, winners of three of the last four conferences, decided to disband their franchise at the start of the season. Last year's three-time finalist Sta.Lucia Realtors has moved over to the pro ranks as a new ballclub in the PBA, their PBL team was sold to Otto Shoes.
• League officials found a venue before the season got off to a start, every Monday and Wednesday, they will be playing at the ULTRA. On Saturday, action shifts to the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
• 10 PBL players namely; Dennis Espino, Rey Evangelista, Kenneth Duremdes, Marlou Aquino, Patrick Fran, Noli Locsin, Boybits Victoria, Richie Ticzon, Edward Feihl and Expedito Falcasantos were bound by the league rule prohibiting them from taking a leave of absence during a PBL tournament without permission of their mother teams and had to make a difficult decision the night they were to leave for Hong Kong for the 22-under ABC tournament, the players held a meeting and decided to stay put in the PBL. The 10 players were indefinitely suspended by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP).
• Philip "Popoy" Juico became the new PBL commissioner after the Maharlika Cup tournament, replacing Ogie Narvasa, the next offing was named after President Fidel V. Ramos, wherein Juico was part of President Ramos' cabinet members. The PBL President Ramos Cup opened on October 16 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Participating teams (coach)

• Nikon Home Appliances (Orly Castelo) *New team
• Casino Rubbing Alcohol (Willie Generalao)
• Burger Machine (Perry Ronquillo)
• Otto Shoes (Adonis Tierra)
• Instafood Mealmasters (Francis Rodriguez) *Formerly Magnolia
• Rica Hotdogs (Roehl Nadurata) *Formerly Swift
• Chowking Fastfood Kings (Joel Banal) *New team in the President Ramos Cup

Maharlika Cup

width=15px bgcolor="#98fb98"

Qualified for finals

width=15 rowspan=2	!	Team Standings	Cumulative
width=20	W!	width=20	L!	width=35	PCT!	width=25	GB!	width=20	W!	width=20	L
1	Nikon Electric Fan	12	6	.667	–-	6	2
2	Burger Machine	11	7	.611	1	4	4
3	Instafood	10	8	.556	2	3	5
4	Otto Shoes	9	9	.500	3	4	4
5	Casino Rubbing Alcohol	8	10	.444	4	3	5

Burger Machine and Instafood finish on top of the standings after the eliminations with 7-3 won-loss slates. In the semifinal round, newcomer Nikon Appliances won six of their eight assignments to advance into the championship against Burger Machine.

Behind the likes of Noli Locsin, Rey Evangelista, Jeffrey Cariaso and Rudolf Belmonte, Nikon won their first title in their very first participated conference, winning over the Burger Specialists, three games to two, in the finals series.^{[1] [2]}

Finals series

align=center width=30%	Team	width=12%	Game 1 (May 28)	width=12%	Game 2 (May 30)	width=12%	Game 3 (June 1)	width=12%	Game 4 (June 4)	width=12%	Game 5 (June 8)	width=12%	Wins
Nikon	89	86	L	99	104	3
Burger Machine	82	88	W	91	78	2
Venue	Cuneta	Cuneta	Cuneta	Cuneta	Cuneta

President Ramos Cup

width=15px bgcolor="#98fb98"

Qualified for finals

width=15 rowspan=2	!	Team Standings	Cumulative
width=20	W!	width=20	L!	width=35	PCT!	width=25	GB!	width=20	W!	width=20	L
1	Burger Machine	13	7	.667	–-	5	3
2	Instafood	13	7	.667	--	3	5
3	Otto Shoes	13	7	.667	--	4	4
4	Nikon Electric Fan	11	9	.555	2	4	4
5	Casino Rubbing Alcohol	9	11	.450	4	4	4

Burger Machine earn their second trip to the finals in the season. The Chicken Burgers finish the two-round semifinals in a three-way tie with Instafood and Otto Shoes with identical 13 wins and 7 losses, but they automatically clinch the first finals slot by virtue of a better quotient.^[3]

Instafood ousted Otto Shoes, 58–56, in a playoff to set up a finals showdown with Burger Machine.^[4]

In the championship series, the Mealmasters led two games to one,^[5] but the Chicken Burgers extended the series by taking Game Four, 85-78,^[6] and won their first championship by edging out the Mealmasters, 64–62, in the deciding fifth game.

Finals series

align=center width=30%	Team	width=12%	Game 1 (Dec.16)	width=12%	Game 2 (Dec.18)	width=12%	Game 3 (Dec.19)	width=12%	Game 4 (Dec.21)	width=12%	Game 5 (Dec.22)	width=12%	Wins
Burger Machine	65	69	68	85	64	3
Instafood	56	78	69	78	62	2
Venue	Cuneta	Pampanga	Cuneta	Cuneta	Cuneta

External links

• www.philippinebasketball.ph

Notes and References

1. News: Nikon gets jump with 89-82 romp of Burger. Manila Standard.
2. News: Burger five ties series. Manila Standard.
3. News: Burger beats Instafood to finals. Manila Standard.
4. News: Instafood ousts Otto Shoes. Manila Standard.
5. News: Instafood makes it 2–1, moves closer to title. Manila Standard.
6. News: Burger roars back. Manila Standard.