2000 PBA All-Filipino Cup
The 2000 PBA All-Filipino Cup or known as the 2000 Alaxan PBA All-Filipino Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the first conference of the 2000 PBA season. It started on February 20 and ended on June 11, 2000. The tournament is an All-Filipino format, which doesn't require an import or a pure-foreign player for each team.
| 2000 PBA All-Filipino Cup | |
|---|---|
| Duration | February 20 - June 11, 2000 |
| TV partner(s) | Viva TV (IBC) |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Alaska Milkmen |
| Runners-up | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs |
| Awards | |
| Best Player | Kenneth Duremdes (Alaska) |
| Finals MVP | Kenneth Duremdes (Alaska) |
| PBA All-Filipino Cup chronology | |
| PBA conference chronology | |
Format
The following format will be observed for the duration of the conference:
- The teams were divided into 2 groups.
|
Group A:
|
Group B:
|
- Teams in a group will play against each other once and against teams in the other group twice; 14 games per team.
- The top eight teams after the eliminations will advance to the quarterfinals.
- Quarterfinals:
- Top four teams will have a twice-to-beat advantage against their opponent.
- QF1: #1 vs. #8
- QF2: #2 vs. #7
- QF3: #3 vs. #6
- QF4: #4 vs. #5
- Best-of-five semifinals:
- SF1: QF1 vs. QF4
- SF2: QF2 vs. QF3
- Third-place playoff: losers of the semifinals
- Best-of-seven finals: winners of the semifinals
Elimination round
Team standings
| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tanduay Rhum Masters | 12 | 2 | .857 | — | Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 10 | 4 | .714[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | |
| 3 | Alaska Milkmen | 10 | 4 | .714[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | |
| 4 | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | 8 | 6 | .571 | 4 | |
| 5 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 6 | 8 | .429[lower-alpha 2] | 6 | Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals |
| 6 | Pop Cola 800s | 6 | 8 | .429[lower-alpha 2] | 6 | |
| 7 | Mobiline Phone Pals | 5 | 9 | .357[lower-alpha 3] | 7 | |
| 8 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 5 | 9 | .357[lower-alpha 3] | 7 | |
| 9 | Shell Velocity | 5 | 9 | .357[lower-alpha 3] | 7 | |
| 10 | Batang Red Bull Energizers[lower-alpha 4] | 3 | 11 | .214 | 9 |
Notes:
- Head-to-head differential: San Miguel +9, Alaska −9
- Head-to-head differential: Sta. Lucia +10, Pop Cola −10
- Head-to-head differential: Mobiline +24, Barangay Ginebra +3, Shell −27; eighth-seed playoff: Barangay Ginebra 71–68 Shell
- Red Bull had to forfeit two of their wins (both against Sta. Lucia) when they fielded an ineligible player.
8th-seed playoff
Mobiline had a better quotient on their games among Shell and Barangay Ginebra hence they were awarded with the #7 seed.[1]
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| #1 twice-to-beat | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tanduay | 101 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Brgy. Ginebra | 78 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Tanduay | 1 | ||||||||||||
| #4 twice-to-beat | 4 | Purefoods | 3 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Purefoods | 68 | 89 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Sta. Lucia | 93 | 79 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Purefoods | 1 | ||||||||||||
| #2 twice-to-beat | 3 | Alaska | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | San Miguel | 82 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Mobiline | 61 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | San Miguel | 1 | ||||||||||||
| #3 twice-to-beat | 3 | Alaska | 3 | Third-place playoff | ||||||||||
| 3 | Alaska | 81 | 1 | Tanduay | 103 | |||||||||
| 6 | Pop Cola | 67 | 2 | San Miguel | 92 | |||||||||
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Tanduay–Purefoods series
May 21 |
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
- On May 22, PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino forfeited Tanduay's Games 2 and 3 victories in favor of Purefoods for the deportation of Sonny Alvarado. Purefoods now leads the series 2–1.
May 26 |
| Tanduay Rhum Masters vs. Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | ||
| Game postponed indefinitely |
PhilSports Arena, Pasig City |
May 31 |
| Tanduay Rhum Masters 71, Purefoods TJ Hotdogs 72 OT | ||
| Purefoods wins series, 3–1 |
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
The day after Tanduay swept the series 3–0, the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) revoked Sonny Alvarado's Filipino citizenship as it uncovered that the player used fraudulent papers; consequently, the BID ordered Alvarado's deportation. This caused PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino to forfeit two of Tanduay's semifinal wins (Games 2 and 3) since Alvarado played on those games (he didn't play on the first game). The league earlier forfeited Batang Red Bull's wins when 18-year-old Kerby Raymundo was found to have deficient academic credentials. With the forfeitures, the series would have resumed on Game 4 with Purefoods leading the series 2–1; however, Tanduay secured a temporary restraining order (TRO) that prevented the league from staging Game 4 of their series.[2] The league suspended the Game 4 on the May 24 playdate, the first time a game has been suspended for a cause other than a typhoon, an earthquake, or a bomb threat.[3]
PBA legal counsel Butch Cleofe warned that Tanduay faced suspension from the league, a hefty fine and even expulsion when it fails to show up on the May 26 playdate. A P500,000 fine faced the franchise plus other penalties the commissioner may impose.[4] Prior to the game, Tanduay was able to secure an extension of the TRO hence Game 4 was suspended for a second time; this has been the first time a PBA game has been suspended via a court order. The league has already lost P600,000 on gate receipts and Viva TV lost about P2 million in TV commercials.[5] The league rejected Tanduay's offer of resetting the series with them leading 1–0, with the games that Alvarado played declared as "no contests"; the league insisted that the Rhum Masters play Game 4 with them trailing 1–2.[6] On May 30, Tanduay relented and agreed to play Game 4 with them trailing 1–2. Bernardino would deal with Tanduay's actions "accordingly with due process". To prevent such events from happening again, the PBA Board has decided that Filipino-Americans would have to secure clearances from the BID and the Department of Justice (DOJ; previously, only a BID clearance was sufficient).[7]
When Game 4 was finally played, the game went into overtime; Purefoods' Boyet Fernandez converted a three-point field goal with 0.2 of a second remaining to seal Purefoods' unlikely Finals qualification against 1990s rival Alaska.[8]
San Miguel–Alaska series
May 24 |
| San Miguel Beermen 83, Alaska Milkmen 120 | ||
| Alaska wins series, 3–1 |
PhilSports Arena, Pasig City |
Playoff for third place
June 2 |
| Tanduay Rhum Masters 103, San Miguel Beermen 92 | ||
| Tanduay clinch third place |
PhilSports Arena, Pasig City |
Finals
June 11 |
| Alaska Milkmen 85, Purefoods TJ Hotdogs 84 | ||
| Alaska wins series, 4–1 |
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
Alaska won the title on Game 5 despite trailing by six points late in the fourth quarter; Rodney Santos and Poch Juinio carried the scoring slack when Bong Hawkins and Johnny Abarrientos had bad starts. Abarrientos was able to make it up by hitting a jump-shot to give the Milkmen the lead 85–82. Noy Castillo converted both free-throws to cut the lead to one. Alaska missed four free-throws, including two intentional misses by James Wallkvist with 0.5 of a second remaining to clinch their first All-Filipino championship since 1998. Alvin Patrimonio had a series-best 22 points but went scoreless at the final quarter that helped Alaska to catch up.
References
- Reyes, Marc Anthony. "Mobiline, Gin square off today". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- Reyes, Marc Anthony. "Alvarado out; Tanduay stuns PBA with TRO". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 18 August 2000. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- Castillo, Musong. "TRO calls off Game 4 as controversy deepens". Sun Star Manila. Archived from the original on 9 February 2001. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- Reyes, Marc Anthony. "Tanduay faces suspension". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 18 August 2000. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- Reyes, Marc Anthony. "Tanduay gets 2nd TRO; game nixed indefinitely". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 18 August 2000. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- Arcano, Jong. "PBA rejects Tanduay offer". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 20 June 2000. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- Reyes, Marc Anthony. "Game 4 today; sanctions sought". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 20 June 2000. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- Reyes, Marc Anthony. "Purefoods-Alaska Game 1 today". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 19 June 2000. Retrieved 2009-03-20.