1999 San Miguel Beermen season

The 1999 San Miguel Beermen season was the 25th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Off-season transactions

Occurrences

The San Miguel Beermen gave away their rights to these four players namely; Allan Caidic, Edward Naron, Elpidio Villamin and Siot Tanquingcen and shipped them to sister team Ginebra San Miguel.

Beginning the quarterfinal round of the Commissioner's Cup, the Beermen traded Nelson Asaytono and William Antonio to Pop Cola in exchange for Dwight Lago, Cris Bolado and Nic Belasco.

Summary

All-Filipino Cup: Under new head coach Jong Uichico, who replaces Ron Jacobs beginning the league's 25th season, the San Miguel Beermen won four of their eight assignments in the first round of eliminations and was the first team to beat Mobiline Phone Pals, who were looking for a first round sweep in their best start in franchise history.^[1] The Beermen also split their eight games in the second round for an even 8-8 won-loss slate. Seeded at number five in the quarterfinals and needed to win twice to advance in the final four semifinal series, the Beermen were eliminated by Formula Shell.

Commissioner's Cup: Former Mobiline import Terquin Mott was acquired by San Miguel for the Commissioner's Cup.^[2] The Beermen agreed to give away Larry Robinson, their import in the Governors Cup for the past two seasons in exchange, Robinson will start playing as the Phone Pals import in the third conference. The Beermen were tied with four other teams with five wins and three losses after the eliminations, they defeated Tanduay Rhum Masters to enter into the best-of-five semifinal series against Alaska Milkmen, their two-time finals opponent last season. San Miguel prevailed in a five-game series, taking the deciding Game five, 84–73 on August 29.

In the finals series against Formula Shell, the Beermen stopped the Zoom Masters' title run, who were looking for their third straight crown. The San Miguel Beermen finally ended a five-year title-drought by winning their 12th championship in a 4–2 series win. Coach Jong Uichico won a title in only his second conference.

Governors Cup: Lamont Strothers returned as their import in the Governor's Cup. The Beermen were looking for their second straight title in the season, easily made it to the semifinal round, posting a 6–2 won-loss slate in the eliminations and seeded third. In the best-of-five semifinal series against Tanduay Rhum Masters, the Beermen scored a 3–0 sweep to advance into the finals. Similarly, their opponent Alaska Milkmen also scored a three-game sweep over Purefoods.

The last championship of the 1990s features the two winningest ballclubs in the last 12 years and a match-up of two of the best imports in recent years; Lamont Strothers and Sean Chambers. The Beermen, who were gunning for their 13th title and hoping to avenge their two finals losses to Alaska last season, trailed 1–2 in the series after losing Games two and three. In a must-win situation, the Beermen won Game four, 76–65 on December 5. Five nights later, the Beermen controlled the game for most of the way and survived a late rally by Alaska to win, 74–68 in Game five, and with one win away from clinching their 13th league championship, the Beermen won, 72–69 in Game six at the Big Dome on December 12. The finals victory by San Miguel tied them with the disbanded Crispa Redmanizers' record for most PBA titles.

Awards

• Danny Seigle won the season's Rookie of the Year Honors
• Terquin Mott was named the Commissioner's Cup Best Import
• Lamont Strothers was named the Governor's Cup Best Import.

Roster

Pos. No. Player School G 1 Emmanuel Victoria San Beda College F 3 Nic Belasco (A) Notre Dame College F 5 Ronilo Padilla University of Cebu G 7 Michael Mustre Letran College C 10 Danny Ildefonso National University F 15 Dwight Lago (A) De La Salle G 17 Olsen Racela Ateneo de Manila F 18 Arturo Dela Cruz San Sebastian College C 24 Cris Bolado (A) National University F 25 Freddie Abuda University of Cebu F 32 Robert Duat Menlo College F 42 Danny Seigle Wagner College F 40 Terquin Mott (C) Coppin State University F 6 Lamont Strothers (G) Christopher Newport University F 34 William Antonio (T) Chaminade University F 11 Nelson Asaytono (T) University of Manila Position Name/s Head coach:  Jong Uichico Assistants: Jojo Villa (T) - Traded, (A) - Acquired via trade, (C) - Commissioners Cup Import, (G) - Governors Cup Import '

^{Team Manager: Nazario Avendaño}

References