2004–05 PBA Philippine Cup
DurationOctober 3, 2004 – February 11, 2005
TV partner(s)ABC (Local)
The Filipino Channel (International)
Finals
ChampionsBarangay Ginebra Kings
Runners-upTalk 'N Text Phone Pals
Awards
Best PlayerEric Menk
(Barangay Ginebra Kings)
Finals MVPEric Menk
(Barangay Ginebra Kings)
PBA Philippine Cup chronology
PBA conference chronology

The 2004–05 PBA Philippine Cup, or known as the 2004–05 Gran Matador Brandy-PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the All-Filipino Conference of the Philippine Basketball Association's (PBA) 2004–05 season.

The Barangay Ginebra Kings won its first back-to-back titles with a 4–2 conquest of the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals. The series was marred by a controversial reversal of the Phone Pals' Game One victory after fielding in an ineligible Asi Taulava in the said game. Taulava was serving an indefinite suspension after being cited as one of six Filipino-American players with questionable citizenship papers.[1][2]

Eric Menk won another Best Player of the Conference Award, his third in his PBA career.

Classification round

Team standings

Pos Team W L PCT GB Qualification
1 Barangay Ginebra Kings 13 5 .722 Advance to semifinals
2 Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 12 6 .667[lower-alpha 1] 1
3 Shell Turbo Chargers 12 6 .667[lower-alpha 1] 1 Twice-to-beat in wildcard phase
4 Alaska Aces 9 9 .500[lower-alpha 2] 4
5 San Miguel Beermen 9 9 .500[lower-alpha 2] 4 Best of-3 wildcard phase
6 Purefoods TJ Hotdogs 9 9 .500[lower-alpha 2] 4
7 Coca-Cola Tigers 8 10 .444 5
8 Sta. Lucia Realtors 6 12 .333[lower-alpha 3] 7
9 FedEx Express 6 12 .333[lower-alpha 3] 7 Twice-to-win in wildcard phase
10 Red Bull Thunder 6 12 .333[lower-alpha 3] 7
Source: PBA.ph
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Second-seed playoff: Talk 'N Text 85–79 Shell
  2. 1 2 3 Head-to-head differential: Alaska +16, San Miguel +11, Purefoods 27; fourth-seed playoff: Alaska 98–91 San Miguel
  3. 1 2 3 Head-to-head differential: Sta. Lucia +15, FedEx +4, Red Bull 19

Second seed playoff

Fourth seed playoff

Bracket

Wildcard phaseQuarterfinals
(Best-of-3)
Semifinals
(Best-of-5)
Finals
(Best-of-7)
(#4 twice to beat)
4Alaska96
1Barangay Ginebra3
9FedEx93
4Alaska05San Miguel2
(Best-of-3)
5San Miguel2
5San Miguel2
1Barangay Ginebra4
8Sta. Lucia0
2Talk 'N Text2
(#3 twice to beat)
3Shell98
2Talk 'N Text3Third place playoff
10Red Bull77
3Shell23Shell0
(Best-of-3)
6Purefoods15San Miguel105
6Purefoods2
3Shell100
7Coca-Cola1

Wildcard phase

The #3 vs. #10 and the #4 vs. #9 matchups are in the "twice-to-beat" format; the team with the higher seed only needs to win once to advance, but needs to be beaten twice in order to be eliminated. The other two matchups are a best-of-three series.

(3) Shell vs. (10) Red Bull

January 11
Red Bull Barako 77, Shell Turbo Chargers 98
Shell wins series in one game

(4) Alaska vs. (9) FedEx

January 11
FedEx Express 93, Alaska Aces 96
Alaska wins series in one game

(5) San Miguel vs. (8) Sta. Lucia

January 12
Sta. Lucia Realtors 77, San Miguel Beermen 81
San Miguel wins series, 2–0

(6) Purefoods vs. (7) Coca-Cola

January 13
Purefoods TJ Hotdogs 74, Coca-Cola Tigers 71
Purefoods wins series, 2–1

Quarterfinals

(3) Shell vs. (6) Purefoods

January 18
Shell Turbo Chargers 106, Purefoods TJ Hotdogs 95
Shell wins series, 2–1

(4) Alaska vs. (5) San Miguel

January 16
Alaska Aces 86, San Miguel Beermen 97
San Miguel wins series, 2–0

Semifinals

(1) Barangay Ginebra vs. (5) San Miguel

January 28
San Miguel Beermen 71, Barangay Ginebra Kings 76
Barangay Ginebra wins series, 3–2

(2) Talk 'N Text vs. (3) Shell

January 23
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 102, Shell Turbo Chargers 96
Talk 'N Text wins series, 3–0

Third place playoff

Finals

January 30
Barangay Ginebra Kings 71, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 89
Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 18–22, 16–22, 18–21
Pts: Jimmy Alapag 19
Rebs: Willie Miller 10
Asts: Willie Miller 8
Pts: Eric Menk 23
Rebs: Sunday Salvacion 13
Asts: Rodney Santos 4
Talk 'N Text leads series, 1–0
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 14,093
Referees: Cruz, Montiel, Quilinguen
PBA commissioner Noli Eala forfeits Game 1 71–89 in favor of Ginebra since Asi Taulava, who was still suspended by the league, participated in the game.
Barangay Ginebra leads series, 1–0
February 2
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 105, Barangay Ginebra Kings 106
Scoring by quarter: 32–35, 22–32, 24–22, 27–17
Pts: Willie Miller 22
Rebs: Willie Miller 10
Asts: Willie Miller 10
Pts: Eric Menk 27
Rebs: Eric Menk 11
Asts: Mark Caguioa 6
Barangay Ginebra leads series, 2–0
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 8,698
Referees: Ilagan, Ramos, Herrera
February 4
Barangay Ginebra Kings 66, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 102
Scoring by quarter: 12–25, 20–29, 19–25, 15–23
Pts: Willie Miller 25
Rebs: de Ocampo, Pablo 9 each
Asts: Jimmy Alapag 6
Pts: Menk, Caguioa 14 each
Rebs: Eric Menk 9
Asts: Aries Dimaunahan 8
Barangay Ginebra leads series, 2–1
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 11,149
Referees: Cruz, Calungcaguin, Culanag
February 6
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 90, Barangay Ginebra Kings 85
Scoring by quarter: 19–26, 22–21, 20–23, 29–15
Pts: Willie Miller 29
Rebs: Yancy de Ocampo 10
Asts: Jimmy Alapag 8
Pts: Mark Caguioa 43
Rebs: Sunday Salvacion 12
Asts: Eric Menk 5
Talk 'N Text ties series, 2–2
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 14,257
Referees: Ilagan, Ramos, Aldaba
February 9
Barangay Ginebra Kings 95, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 85 (2OT)
Scoring by quarter: 14–23, 19–9, 24–26, 16–15, Overtime: 8–8, 14–4
Pts: Victor Pablo 27
Rebs: Victor Pablo 10
Asts: Jimmy Alapag 11
Pts: Mark Caguioa 26
Rebs: Eric Menk 16
Asts: Dimaunahan, Santos 6 each
Barangay Ginebra leads series, 3–2
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 11,723
Referees: Cruz, Montiel, Aldaba
February 11
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 86, Barangay Ginebra Kings 96
Scoring by quarter: 14–20, 31–22, 12–22, 29–32
Pts: Jimmy Alapag 23
Rebs: Mark Telan 12
Asts: Miller, Alapag 4 each
Pts: Eric Menk 39
Rebs: Eric Menk 19
Asts: Caguioa, Santos 4 each
Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–2
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 18,287
Referees: Cruz, Montiel, Culanag

On January 26, 2005, Judge Rogelio Pizarro of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 222 issued a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction "commanding and directing" the PBA to allow Taulava "to play in the current All Filipino Conference and succeeding Conferences of the PBA" during the term of his contract. This was after Taulava passed citizenship papers that should've allowed him to play in the league; earlier, he was indefinitely suspended from playing after his Filipino citizenship was nullified (only Filipinos are allowed to play in the Philippine Cup).[3]

The PBA Board of Governors refused to honor the court order, upholding Commissioner Noli Eala's suspension of Taulava after consultation with the league's legal counsel. Taulava's lawyer Ed Francisco charged Eala with giving the board wrong legal advice. Taulava did play at Game 1, in which Talk 'N Text won easily 89–71. As Taulava was being introduced, the pro-Ginebra crowd jeered him as the outnumbered Talk 'N Text crowd greeted him with cheers, displaying placards with a message "Welcome Back!" Eala himself had considered quitting his commissioner's post as he received a phone call "to make sure that Asi Taulava be allowed to play". After the game, Barangay Ginebra filed a protest to the commissioner's office. Talk 'N Text intends to play Taulava for the entire duration of the series.[4]

Barangay Ginebra reportedly indicated that the team may forfeit the Finals series if Taulava continues to be allowed to play and Game 1 won't be forfeited. The league has issued a motion for reconsideration on the court order, and Eala said that Talk 'N Text may face sanctions for violating league rules. In a board meeting on February 1, there was a "heated clash" between Eala and Talk 'N Text alternate representative Paul Gueco in which Gueco reportedly challenged Eala to make a decision on the Taulava case by himself and to tell Talk N Text what his decision was, a statement supported by board chairman Buddy Encarnado of the Sta. Lucia Realtors.[5]

Talk 'N Text did not field Taulava in Game 2 "in the interest of the Philippine Basketball Association and the public", even though Eala was filed of contempt charges, and Talk 'N Text's Game 1 win was forfeited against Ginebra. The Gin Kings won against Talk 'N Text by one point, thanks to Eric Menk's last basket with 5.2 seconds left to play. Ginebra's defense disallowed an attempt from the Phone Pals, leading to the 2–0 series lead.[6]

Francisco pointed out that new rules and regulations covering the eligibility of Filipino-foreign players such as Taulava, who was declared eligible by the PBA based on the Bureau of Immigration clearance and Department of Justice (DOJ) affirmation in 2001, cannot be subject to additional rules or conditions imposed retroactively and any such changes can only be applied prospectively. The DOJ, for its part, considered on intervening and seek a reversal of the court's ruling allowing the cager to play anew in the PBA despite the DOJ's findings that he is not a Filipino; although they won't intervene if the Court of Appeals would rule favorably on the justice department's petition seeking to lift an injunction against it issued by the Manila RTC on the separate issue of Taulava's deportation. DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez said that the rulings of the Quezon City and Manila RTC constitute "undue interference by the courts." Parañaque Congressman Eduardo Zialcita would seek a congressional inquiry into Eala's "continued defiance" on the court orders.[7]

Negros Oriental Congressman Jacinto Paras asked the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) to investigate Eala for his "questionable and dictatorial acts" as the PBA is under the direct jurisdiction of the GAB. Meanwhile, the Phone Pals appealed to the Board of Governors to reverse Eala's prior decisions of forfeiting game 1 and for the reinstatement of Taulava.[8] Meanwhile, with all of the publicity, the tournament scored the highest TV ratings in years, with ratings of at least 11% and an audience share of at least 17.4%.[9]


References

  1. "PBA commish gets veiled threats". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  2. "Kings get their crown". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  3. "No Asi 'fastbreak', says PBA commish". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  4. "Ginebra files protest, cites 3 TNT violations". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  5. "No violation in fielding of Taulava-TNT". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  6. "Menk lifts Kings to 2–0 lead over Phone Pals". PBA.ph. 3 February 2005. Archived from the original on 18 February 2005. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
  7. "Gonzalez slams QC court ruling". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  8. Caluag, Randy; Nathanielsz, Ronnie; Evangelista, Romie (4 February 2005). "Asi lands PBA on carpet". Manila Standard. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
  9. "PBA enjoys high TV ratings". Manila Standard. 4 February 2005. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
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