1997 PBA season
# 1997 PBA season

The 1997 PBA season was the 23rd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

## Board of governors

### Executive committee

* Emilio P. Bernardino, Jr. (Commissioner)
* Nazario L. Avendaño (Chairman, representing San Miguel Beermen)
* Bernabe L. Navarro, Jr. (Vice-Chairman, representing Gordon's Gin Boars)
* Reynaldo G. Gamboa (Treasurer, representing Formula Shell Zoommasters)

### Teams

| Team | Company | Governor | Alternate Governor |
| - | - | - | - |
| Alaska Milkmen | Alaska Milk Corporation | Wilfred Steven Uytengsu | Joaquin Trillo |
| Formula Shell Zoommasters | Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation | Reynaldo Gamboa | Eliseo Santiago |
| Gordon's Gin Boars | La Tondeña Distillers, Inc. | Bernabe Navarro, Jr. | Roberto Eduardo |
| Mobiline Phone Pals | Lapanday Holdings Corporation | Luis F. Lorenzo | Ignatius F. Yenko |
| Pop Cola 800s | RFM Corporation | Elmer Yanga | Atty. Aurora Timbol |
| Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | Purefoods Corporation | Teodoro Dimayuga | Eliezer Capacio |
| San Miguel Beermen | San Miguel Corporation | Nazario Avendaño | |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Corporation | Manuel Encarnado | Vicente R. Santos |

## Season highlights

* For the first time in league history, the top two picks of the Annual Rookie draft were born outside the Philippines, 6–9 Andrew John Seigle, and Nic Belasco were selected at numbers one and two, respectively.
* Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys and Gordon's Gin Boars (formerly Ginebra) played in the All-Filipino Cup finals. This is only the second time the two rivals meet in a championship series. Gordon's playing coach Sonny Jaworski became the oldest player to play in a PBA finals series at age 51. Purefoods rookie coach Eric Altamirano won his first title as a head mentor.
* Gordon's Gin Boars ended a six-year title drought for the La Tondeña franchise by winning the Commissioner's Cup title over defending champion Alaska Milkmen.
* The Alaska Milkmen retains the Governors' Cup title for the fourth straight time and defend the only crown left in their grandslam conquest last season. Alaska has overtaken the defunct Presto franchise as the fourth winningest ballclub in the PBA.
* Alvin Patrimonio won his fourth MVP award, tying Ramon Fernandez for the most number of MVP awards.

## Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

| Team | Muse |
| - | - |
| Alaska Milkmen | Carmela Lastimosa & Sha Sha Hawkins |
| Formula Shell Zoom Masters | Teresa Herrera |
| Gordon's Gin Boars | Ruffa Mae Quinto |
| Mobiline Cellulars | Joey Mead |
| Pop Cola Bottlers | Gill Baltazar |
| Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys | Ciara Sotto |
| San Miguel Beermen | Leng Damiles |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | Sherilyn Reyes |

## Champions

* All-Filipino Cup: Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys
* Commissioner's Cup: Gordon's Gin Boars
* Governor's Cup: Alaska Milkmen
* Team with best win–loss percentage: Alaska Milkmen (35–25, .583)
* Best Team of the Year: Alaska Milkmen (2nd)

## All-Filipino Cup

### Elimination round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Gordon's Gin Boars | 10 | 4 | .714 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys | 8 | 6 | .571 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 8 | 6 | .571 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 4 | San Miguel Beermen | 7 | 7 | .500 | 3 | Advance to semifinals |
| 5 | Mobiline Cellulars | 7 | 7 | .500 | 3 | Advance to semifinals |
| 6 | Alaska Milkmen | 6 | 8 | .429 | 4 | |
| 7 | Pop Cola Bottlers | 5 | 9 | .357 | 5 | |
| 8 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 5 | 9 | .357 | 5 | |

### Semifinal round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys | 14 | 8 | .636 | — | Advance to the Finals |
| 2 | Gordon's Gin Boars | 14 | 8 | .636 | — | Advance to the Finals |
| 3 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 12 | 10 | .545 | 2 | Proceed to third-place playoff |
| 4 | San Miguel Beermen | 11 | 11 | .500 | 3 | Proceed to third-place playoff |
| 5 | Mobiline Cellulars | 9 | 13 | .409 | 5 | |
| Pos | Teamvte | W | L |
| 1 | Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys | 6 | 2 |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Gordon's Gin Boars | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Mobiline Cellulars | 2 | 6 |

### Third place playoff

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| - | - | - |
| (3) Sta. Lucia Realtors | 75–64 | (4) San Miguel Beermen |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (1) Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys | 4–2 | (2) Gordon's Gin Boars | 103–90 | 91–73 | 83–92 | 94–84 | 95–96 | 82–73 | — |

* Finals MVP: Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)
* Best Player of the Conference: Nelson Asaytono (San Miguel)

## Commissioner's Cup

### Elimination round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Gordon's Gin Boars | 6 | 4 | .600 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 6 | 4 | .600 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 6 | 4 | .600 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 6 | 4 | .600 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 5 | Alaska Milkmen | 5 | 5 | .500 | 1 | Advance to semifinals |
| 6 | Mobiline Cellulars | 4 | 6 | .400 | 2 | |
| 7 | Pop Cola Bottlers | 4 | 6 | .400 | 2 | |
| 8 | Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys | 3 | 7 | .300 | 3 | |

### Semifinal round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Alaska Milkmen | 11 | 7 | .611 | — | Advance to the Finals |
| 2 | Gordon's Gin Boars | 11 | 7 | .611 | — | Guaranteed Finals berth playoff |
| 3 | San Miguel Beermen | 11 | 7 | .611 | — | Qualify to Finals berth playoff |
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 8 | 10 | .444 | 3 | Proceed to third-place playoff |
| 5 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 8 | 10 | .444 | 3 | |
| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | Qualification |
| 1 | Alaska Milkmen | 6 | 2 | |
| 2 | Gordon's Gin Boars | 5 | 3 | |
| 3 | San Miguel Beermen | 5 | 3 | Qualify to Finals berth playoff |
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 2 | 6 | |
| 5 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 2 | 6 | |

### Third place playoff

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| - | - | - |
| (3) San Miguel Beermen | 96–95 | (4) Sta. Lucia Realtors |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (1) Alaska Milkmen | 2–4 | (2) Gordon's Gin Boars | 89–99 | 96–102 | 86–87 | 108–90 | 86–81 | 79–105 | — |

* Finals MVP: Marlou Aquino (Gordon's Gin)
* Best Player of the Conference: Kenneth Duremdes (Alaska)
* Best Import of the Conference: Jeff Ward (San Miguel)

## Governors' Cup

### Elimination round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | San Miguel Beermen | 9 | 5 | .643 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Alaska Milkmen | 9 | 5 | .643 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 9 | 5 | .643 | — | Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals |
| 4 | Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies | 8 | 6 | .571 | 1 | Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals |
| 5 | Mobiline Cellulars | 7 | 7 | .500 | 2 | Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals |
| 6 | Gordon's Gin Boars | 7 | 7 | .500 | 2 | Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals |
| 7 | Pop Cola Sizzlers | 5 | 9 | .357 | 4 | |
| 8 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 2 | 12 | .143 | 7 | |

* 1 2 3 Head-to-head quotient: San Miguel 1.027, Alaska 1.000, Sta. Lucia 0.975
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Mobiline 2–0 Gordon's

### Playoffs

| Quarterfinals (Higher seeds twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds twice-to-beat) | Semifinals (Best-of-5 series) | Semifinals (Best-of-5 series) | Semifinals (Best-of-5 series) | Finals (Best-of-7 series) | Finals (Best-of-7 series) | Finals (Best-of-7 series) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | 1 | San Miguel | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Purefoods | Purefoods | 93 | 4 | Purefoods | 3 | | | |
| 5 | Mobiline | Mobiline | 91 | | | | 4 | Purefoods | 1 |
| | | | | | | | 2 | Alaska | 4 |
| | | | | 2 | Alaska | 3 |
| 3 | Sta. Lucia | Sta. Lucia | 102 | 3 | Sta. Lucia | 0 |
| 6 | Gordon's Gin | Gordon's Gin | 93 | | | | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | | 1 | San Miguel | 99 |
| | | | | | | | 3 | Sta. Lucia | 89 |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (2) Alaska Milkmen | 4–1 | (4) Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies | 76–87 | 85–79 | 96–85 | 92–75 | 94–66 | — | — |

* Finals MVP: Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
* Best Player of the Conference: Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)
* Best Import of the Conference: Larry Robinson (San Miguel)

## Individual awards

* Most Valuable Player: Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)
* Rookie of the Year: Andy Seigle (Mobiline)
* Sportsmanship Award: Freddie Abuda (San Miguel)
* Most Improved Player: Bong Ravena (Purefoods)
* Defensive Player of the Year: Freddie Abuda (San Miguel)
* Mythical Five:
   * Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
   * Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)
   * Marlou Aquino (Gordon's Gin)
   * Vince Hizon (Gordon's Gin)
   * Nelson Asaytono (San Miguel)
* Mythical Second Team:
   * Noli Locsin (Gordon's Gin)
   * Dindo Pumaren (Purefoods)
   * Bong Ravena (Purefoods)
   * Jun Limpot (Sta. Lucia)
   * Jerry Codiñera (Purefoods)
* All Defensive Team:
   * Jerry Codiñera (Purefoods)
   * Freddie Abuda (San Miguel)
   * Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
   * Jeffrey Cariaso (Mobiline)
   * Marlou Aquino (Gordon's Gin)

## Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

* Coach of the Year: Ron Jacobs (San Miguel)
* Mr. Quality Minutes: Paul Alvarez (San Miguel)
* Executive of the Year: Simon Mossesgeld (Purefoods)
* Comeback Player of the Year: Paul Alvarez (San Miguel)
* Referee of the Year: Ernesto de Leon

## Cumulative standings

| Team | GP | W | L | PCT |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Alaska Milkmen | 60 | 35 | 25 | .583 |
| Gordon's Gin Boars | 68 | 39 | 29 | .574 |
| San Miguel Beermen | 63 | 35 | 28 | .556 |
| Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys/Carne Norte Beefies | 63 | 34 | 29 | .540 |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | 61 | 31 | 30 | .508 |
| Mobiline Cellulars/Phone Pals | 47 | 20 | 27 | .426 |
| Pop Cola Bottlers | 38 | 14 | 24 | .368 |
| Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 46 | 15 | 31 | .326 |
