34th PBA season
Sports season
The 2008–09 PBA season was the 34th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. The season formally opened on October 4, 2008[1] and ended on July 17, 2009. This was the first time that the league will hold their opening ceremonies on a Saturday. The league started the season with the 2008-09 Philippine Cup, or the traditional All-Filipino Conference, while capping off the season with the import-laiden 2009 Fiesta Conference.
The first activity of the season was the 2008 PBA Draft last August 31 at the Market! Market! in Taguig.
Pre-season events
Broadcast contracts
The 2008-09 season would be the first season under the PBA's new broadcast contract with Solar Sports. Games would now air on their cable channel Basketball TV, and on the stations of the Radio Philippines Network (who curiously, were the first broadcaster of the PBA) after an intense bidding war between Solar and ABS-CBN.[2]
Team re-brandings
Major trades
Opening ceremonies
The season began on October 4 with the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters defeating the Coca Cola Tigers, 98-97.
The muses for the participating teams are as follows:[3]
2008-09 Philippine Cup
Elimination round
Source: PBA.ph
Notes:
- ^ a b c Head-to-head differential: Barangay Ginebra +16, Rain or Shine −3, Sta. Lucia −13
- ^ a b Head-to-head record: Purefoods 2–0 Air21
Playoffs
Finals
Smart Gilas exhibition games
Exhibition games were held prior to Games 4 and 6 of the Philippine Cup finals between the Smart Gilas (Philippines team that will compete in the FIBA Asia Championship 2011) coached by Rajko Toroman and previously eliminated teams from the Philippine Cup. The games also marked the appearance of the newly renamed Burger King Titans team formerly known as the Air21 Express.
2009 Fiesta Conference
Notable events
- Red Bull Barako changed their name to Barako Bull Energy Boosters.
- The former Air21 Express were renamed as the Burger King Titans. However, with the failure of several business deals that would have changed the franchise's upper management, the Titans renamed into the Burger King Whoppers by their seventh game into the conference, retaining their old management headed by the Lina family.
- The May 16 game between the Barangay Ginebra Kings and the Alaska Aces held at the Albay Astrodome in Legaspi was canceled when the playing court was judged as too slippery, with Ginebra leading 9–2, and 8:04 remaining in the first quarter. The game was stopped twice and the stoppages lasted two hours before the game was canceled. The game was restarted at the Araneta Coliseum on May 22.[4]
Classification round
Source: PBA.ph
Notes:
- ^ a b c Head-to-head differential: Rain or Shine +15, Barangay Ginebra −7, Burger King −8; second seed playoff: Barangay Ginebra 114–71 Rain or Shine
- ^ a b c Head-to-head differential: Sta. Lucia +7, Purefoods +3, Talk 'N Text −10
- ^ a b Eighth seed playoff: Coca-Cola 81–74 Alaska
Playoffs
Finals
Philippines-Australia goodwill series
An Australian team was invited to a two-game series between the national team, with the winner of a game being awarded P75,000 (about A$4,340).[5]
2009 PBA All-Star Weekend
The 2009 PBA All-Star Weekend was held from April 22 to 26 at three different cities, particularly: Victorias, Negros Occidental (April 22), Panabo, Davao del Norte (April 24), and Quezon City (April 26). The winners were:
All-Star Games
David Noel named the All-Star Game MVP.
Awards
- Most Valuable Player: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
- Rookie of the Year: Gabe Norwood (Rain or Shine)
- First Mythical Team:
- Second Mythical Team:
- All-Defensive Team:
- Most Improved Player: Jonas Villanueva (San Miguel)
- Sportsmanship Award: Ryan Reyes (Sta. Lucia)
- Motolite Pangmatagalan Player of the Year: Willie Miller (Alaska)
Awards given by the PBA Press Corps
Cumulative standings
Elimination/classification rounds
Playoffs
References
- ^ Williams named MVP; Reyes picked top rookie, The Philippine Star. Accessed August 14, 2008.
- ^ Macamay, Zean (May 28, 2008). "Solar gets it". People's Journal. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
- ^ PBA opens its 34th season, GMANews.tv, October 4, 2008
- ^ "GINEBRA – ALASKA TIFF IN LEGAZPI HALTED". May 17, 2009. Archived from the original on June 7, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
- ^ Powerade-Team Pilipinas off to a rousing debut, GMANews.tv
External links
