1995 PBA season
# 1995 PBA season

The 1995 PBA season was the 21st season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

## Season highlights

* Ramon Fernandez, one of the remaining pioneer players in the league announced his retirement on February 17. His #19 jersey was retired by the San Miguel Beermen in a ceremony held at the San Miguel Corporation offices in Mandaluyong.
* The league returned to the Araneta Coliseum after a decade of absence with the scheduled games on Friday being held at the Big Dome.
* The PBA All-star game returned to its old format of Veterans vs Rookies/Sophomores/Juniors team, also the All-Star event was moved in the month of July with the first-ever PBA fans day held at the Araneta Coliseum a week before the annual all-star game.
* A mid-1990s rivalry was born between the Sunkist Orange Juicers and the Alaska Milkmen, the two teams battled in two memorable finals for the season. The Orange Juicers had won the first two conferences but failed in its bid to win the Grandslam with the Alaska Milkmen taking home the Third Conference trophy.
* Vergel Meneses of Sunkist was the season's best, winning the prestigious MVP Award as well as the All-Star MVP and Best Player of the Conference in the Juicers' two straight championships.

## Rule changes

The PBA board approved the rule changes for implementation starting this season:

* The shot clock was reduced to 24 seconds from the previous 25 second limit. The 25 second shot clock was implemented since the league started in 1975 due to a limitation of the shot clock used at the Araneta Coliseum where it can only be set in 5 second intervals.
* The first two minutes of each quarter will be played in "running time". The clock will only be stopped on fouls and violations.
* Teams will now have six 90-second regular timeouts and one 20-second timeout for the eliminations and semifinals.
* Substitutions during free throw situations are only allowed before the last free throw attempt.
* Foul shooters are allowed to shoot their first free throw even if the other players are not yet in position in the lines bordering the painted area.

## Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

| Team | Muse |
| - | - |
| Alaska Milkmen | Tet Legacion |
| Ginebra San Miguel | Charlene Gonzales |
| Pepsi Mega Bottlers | Anna Gonzales |
| Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | Roselle Nava |
| San Miguel Beermen | Shiela Lang and Gil Baltazar |
| Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers | Cesca La'O |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | Sheila Marie Dizon (Ms.Tourism) |
| Sunkist Orange Juicers | Sheryl Cruz |

## Champions

* All-Filipino Cup: Sunkist Orange Juicers
* Commissioner's Cup: Sunkist Orange Juicers
* Governor's Cup: Alaska Milkmen
* Team with best win–loss percentage: Sunkist Orange Juicers (49–23, .681)
* Best Team of the Year: Sunkist Orange Juicers (1st & Final)

## All-Filipino Cup

### Elimination round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 7 | 3 | .700 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers | 6 | 4 | .600 | 1 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Alaska Milkmen | 5 | 5 | .500 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 5 | 5 | .500 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 5 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 5 | 5 | .500 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 6 | San Miguel Beermen | 4 | 6 | .400 | 3 | |
| 7 | Pepsi Mega Bottlers | 4 | 6 | .400 | 3 | |
| 8 | Ginebra San Miguel | 4 | 6 | .400 | 3 | |

### Semifinal round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | Advance to the Finals |
| 2 | Alaska Milkmen | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | Guaranteed Finals berth playoff |
| 3 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | Qualify to Finals berth playoff |
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | Proceed to third-place playoffs |
| 5 | Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers | 6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | |
| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | Qualification |
| 1 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 6 | 2 | |
| 2 | Alaska Milkmen | 5 | 3 | |
| 3 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 5 | 3 | Qualify to Finals berth playoff |
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 4 | 4 | |
| 5 | Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers | 0 | 8 | |

### Third place playoffs

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (3) Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 0–2 | (4) Sta. Lucia Realtors | 89–90 | 87–89 | — |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (1) Sunkist Orange Juicers | 4–3 | (2) Alaska Milkmen | 104–110 | 92–85 | 98–92 | 88–94 | 95–90 | 86–92 | 87–78 (OT) |

* Best Player of the Conference: Vergel Meneses (Sunkist)

## Commissioner's Cup

### Elimination round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 9 | 1 | .900 | — | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 2 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 8 | 2 | .800 | 1 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 3 | Alaska Milkmen | 7 | 3 | .700 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 6 | 4 | .600 | 3 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 5 | San Miguel Beermen | 6 | 4 | .600 | 3 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 6 | Formula Shell Gas Kings | 2 | 8 | .200 | 7 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 7 | Pepsi Mega Bottlers | 1 | 9 | .100 | 8 | |
| 8 | Ginebra San Miguel | 1 | 9 | .100 | 8 | |

### Quarterfinal round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 12 | 3 | .800 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 10 | 5 | .667 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Alaska Milkmen | 10 | 5 | .667 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 4 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 9 | 6 | .600 | 3 | Advance to semifinals |
| 5 | San Miguel Beermen | 8 | 7 | .533 | 4 | |
| 6 | Formula Shell Gas Kings | 4 | 11 | .267 | 8 | |

* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Sta. Lucia 3–0 Alaska

### Playoffs

| Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Finals (Best-of-7) | Finals (Best-of-7) | Finals (Best-of-7) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sunkist | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Purefoods | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Purefoods | 2 | 1 | Sunkist | 4 |
| | | | 3 | Alaska | 2 |
| 2 | Sta. Lucia | 0 | 3 | Alaska | 2 |
| 3 | Alaska | 3 | Third place playoff | Third place playoff | Third place playoff |
| | | | 4 | Purefoods | 0 |
| | | | 2 | Sta. Lucia | 2 |

### Third place playoffs

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (2) Sta. Lucia Realtors | 2–0 | (4) Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 99–88 | 101–89 | — |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (1) Sunkist Orange Juicers | 4–2 | (3) Alaska Milkmen | 112–106 (OT) | 99–105 | 99–87 | 95–93 | 93–114 | 106–87 | ⁠— |

* Best Player of the Conference: Vergel Meneses (Sunkist)
* Best Import of the Conference: Ronnie Grandison (Sunkist)

## Governors' Cup

### Elimination round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 8 | 2 | .800 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Alaska Milkmen | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | Advance to semifinals |
| 4 | San Miguel Beermen | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 5 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 6 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 4 | 6 | .400 | 4 | |
| 7 | Pepsi Mega Bottlers | 2 | 8 | .200 | 6 | |
| 8 | Ginebra San Miguel | 0 | 10 | .000 | 8 | |

### Semifinal round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Alaska Milkmen | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | Advance to the Finals |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | Advance to the Finals |
| 3 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 11 | 7 | .611 | 2 | Proceed to third-place playoffs |
| 4 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | Proceed to third-place playoffs |
| 5 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | |
| Pos | Teamvte | W | L |
| 1 | Alaska Milkmen | 6 | 2 |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 6 | 2 |
| 3 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 3 | 5 |
| 4 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 2 | 6 |

### Third place playoff

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (3) Sunkist Orange Juicers | 2–1 | (4) Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 107–97 | 107–114 | 110–92 |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (1) Alaska Milkmen | 4–3 | (2) San Miguel Beermen | 93–85 | 90–102 | 110–96 | 100–108 | 110–117 (2OT) | 94–86 | 99–86 |

* Best Player of the Conference: Allan Caidic (San Miguel)
* Best Import of the Conference: Stevin Smith (Sunkist)

## Awards

* Most Valuable Player: Vergel Meneses (Sunkist)
* Rookie of the Year: Jeffrey Cariaso (Alaska)
* Sportsmanship Award: Rey Evangelista (Purefoods)
* Most Improved Player: Bonel Balingit (Sunkist)
* Defensive Player of the Year: Art dela Cruz (San Miguel)
* Mythical Five:
   * Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
   * Bong Hawkins (Alaska)
   * Allan Caidic (San Miguel)
   * Benjie Paras (Shell)
   * Vergel Meneses (Sunkist)
* Mythical Second Team:
   * Boybits Victoria (Sunkist)
   * Jojo Lastimosa (Alaska)
   * Bonel Balingit (Sunkist)
   * Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)
   * Nelson Asaytono (Sunkist)
* All Defensive Team:
   * Jerry Codiñera (Purefoods)
   * Glenn Capacio (Purefoods)
   * Chris Jackson (Sta. Lucia)
   * Elpidio Villamin (Sunkist)
   * Art dela Cruz (San Miguel)

### Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

* Coach of the Year: Derrick Pumaren (Sunkist)
* Mr. Quality Minutes: Porfirio "Jun" Marzan (Shell)
* Executive of the Year: Elmer Yanga (Swift)
* Comeback Player of the Year: Elpidio Villamin (Sunkist)
* Referee of the Year: Ernesto de Leon

## Board of Governors

* Emilio Bernardino (Commissioner)
* Ruben Cleofe (Secretary)
* Jose Concepcion III (Chairman, Republic Flour Mills Corp.)
* Teodoro Dimayuga (Vice-Chairman, Purefoods Corp.)
* Nazario Avendaño (Treasurer, San Miguel Corp.)
* Wilfred Steven Uytengsu (General Milling Corp.)
* Eliseo Santiago (Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.)
* Vicente Santos (Sta. Lucia Realty and Development, Inc)
* Luis Lorenzo, Sr (Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc)
* Bernabe Navarro (La Tondeña Distillers, Inc)

## Cumulative standings

| Team | GP | W | L | PCT |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Sunkist Orange Juicers | 72 | 49 | 23 | .680 |
| Alaska Milkmen | 75 | 46 | 29 | .613 |
| San Miguel Beermen | 50 | 27 | 23 | .540 |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | 50 | 27 | 23 | .540 |
| Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | 61 | 30 | 31 | .492 |
| Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers / Formula Shell Gas Kings / Zoom Masters | 54 | 20 | 34 | .371 |
| Pepsi Mega Bottlers | 30 | 7 | 23 | .233 |
| Ginebra San Miguel | 30 | 5 | 25 | .166 |
