2004–05 PBA Philippine Cup
Encyclopedia
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 1 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.
The San Miguel Beermen
won third place after beating the Shell Turbo Chargers
in a one-game playoff.
Eric Menk
won another Best Player of the Conference Award, his third in his PBA career.
Chot Reyes
left his post as the Coca-Cola Tigers
head coach to become the new coach of the Philippine national basketball team
NA* = teams tied for 2nd and 4th would have to play an extra game regardless of the results of their classification round games.
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
).
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.
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
.
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. Ginebra 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. 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.
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. 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%.
PBA Philippine Cup
The Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup is the award given at PBA's all-Filipino conference. The tournament does not allow teams to hire foreign players or imports. Prior to 2004-05 season, the tournament was then known as the PBA All-Filipino Cup...
of the Philippine Basketball Association
Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association , is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 10 company-branded franchised teams. It is the first and oldest professional basketball league in Asia and the second oldest in the world after the NBA...
's (PBA) 2004-05 season
2004-05 PBA season
The 2004-05 PBA season is the 30th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. Instead of the usual calendar year of February-December, the league changed its schedule to the current October-July format, while limiting the number of conferences from three to two...
.
The Barangay Ginebra Kings
Barangay Ginebra Kings
The Barangay Ginebra Kings is a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association founded in 1979 and owned by the Ginebra San Miguel, Inc., a subsidiary of the San Miguel Corporation...
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 1 victory after fielding in an ineligible Asi Taulava
Asi Taulava
Pauliasi M. Taulava also known as Asi Taulava is a American-born Filipino-Tongan professional basketball player playing in the Philippines for the Meralco Bolts in the Philippine Basketball Association....
in the said game. Taulava was serving an indefinite suspension after being cited as one of six Filipino-American players with questionable citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
papers.
The San Miguel Beermen
San Miguel Beermen
The Petron Blaze Boosters is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team has been a member of the league since its inception in 1975 and hold the most PBA titles with 19.The team is owned by the Petron Corporation, a subsidiary of the Philippines' largest food...
won third place after beating the Shell Turbo Chargers
Shell Turbo Chargers
The Shell Turbo Chargers is a former Philippine Basketball Association team under the ownership of Pilipinas Shell Corporation. Shell has been a member of the PBA since 1985 until 2005 when the team filed for a leave of absence after the season. Shell sold its franchise to PBL team Welcoat Paints...
in a one-game playoff.
Eric Menk
Eric Menk
Eric Conrad Menk is a Filipino-American professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association for the Barangay Ginebra Kings...
won another Best Player of the Conference Award, his third in his PBA career.
Chot Reyes
Chot Reyes
Vincent P. Reyes , better known as Chot Reyes, is a Filipino basketball head coach of the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters in the Philippine Basketball Association...
left his post as the Coca-Cola Tigers
Coca-Cola Tigers
The Powerade Tigers is a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association founded in 2002 when the then-San Miguel Corporation-owned Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines bought the RFM-owned Cosmos Bottling Corporation. In 2006, the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company under the Coca-Cola...
head coach to become the new coach of the Philippine national basketball team
Classification round
| Qualified for semifinals | |
| Qualified for wildcards with the twice-to-beat advantage |
|
| Qualified for wildcards | |
| Qualified for wildcards with the twice-to-win disadvantage |
| # | |Team | W | L | PCT Winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win... | GB Games behind In sports, the phrase games behind or games back , is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division... | PD | PO One-game playoff A one-game playoff, sometimes known as a pennant playoff or play-in game, is a tiebreaker in certain sports—usually but not always professional—to determine which of two teams, tied in the final standings, will qualify for a post-season tournament... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barangay Ginebra Kings Barangay Ginebra Kings The Barangay Ginebra Kings is a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association founded in 1979 and owned by the Ginebra San Miguel, Inc., a subsidiary of the San Miguel Corporation... |
13 | 5 | .722 | - | ||
| 2 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | NA* |  |
| 3 | Shell Turbo Chargers Shell Turbo Chargers The Shell Turbo Chargers is a former Philippine Basketball Association team under the ownership of Pilipinas Shell Corporation. Shell has been a member of the PBA since 1985 until 2005 when the team filed for a leave of absence after the season. Shell sold its franchise to PBL team Welcoat Paints... |
12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | NA* |  |
| 4 | Alaska Aces Alaska Aces (PBA) The Alaska Aces is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association since 1986 under the ownership of the Alaska Milk Corporation and the owner of 13 PBA championships with the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference as their latest... |
9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | +16 | |
| 5 | San Miguel Beermen San Miguel Beermen The Petron Blaze Boosters is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team has been a member of the league since its inception in 1975 and hold the most PBA titles with 19.The team is owned by the Petron Corporation, a subsidiary of the Philippines' largest food... |
9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | +11 | |
| 6 | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | -27 | |
| 7 | Coca-Cola Tigers Coca-Cola Tigers The Powerade Tigers is a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association founded in 2002 when the then-San Miguel Corporation-owned Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines bought the RFM-owned Cosmos Bottling Corporation. In 2006, the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company under the Coca-Cola... |
8 | 10 | .444 | 5 | ||
| 8 | Sta. Lucia Realtors Sta. Lucia Realtors The Sta. Lucia Realtors was a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association.The Universal Robina Corporation team is one of the founding members of the PBA. Formerly known as Great Taste and Presto-Tivoli Ice Cream, they have won a total of 6 championships. Sta... |
6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | +15 | |
| 9 | FedEx Express Air21 Express The Barako Bull Energy is a Philippine Basketball Association team that began in 2002.Barako Bull is owned by Energy Food and Drinks Inc., a subsidiary of the Linaheim Corporate Services, owners of the defunct Laguna Lakers of the Metropolitan Basketball Association... |
6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | +4 | |
| 10 | Red Bull Barako Red Bull Barako The Barako Bull Energy Boosters was a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association that is owned by the Photokina Marketing Corporation... |
6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | -19 |
Second-seed playoff
Fourth-seed playoff
Bracket
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.Shell–Red Bull series
Alaska–FedEx series
San Miguel–Sta. Lucia series
Purefoods–Coca-Cola series
Shell–Purefoods series
Alaska–San Miguel series
Barangay Ginebra–San Miguel series
Talk 'N Text–Shell series
Third-place playoff
Finals
| PBA commissioner Noli Eala Noli Eala Jose Emmanuel M. Eala, better known as Noli Eala, was the sixth commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association from 2003 to 2007. Before he became the commissioner of the league, he was a play-by-play commentator of Viva-Vintage Sports, which broadcasts the PBA Games, from the early 1990s... forfeited Game 1 in favor of Ginebra since Asi Taulava Asi Taulava Pauliasi M. Taulava also known as Asi Taulava is a American-born Filipino-Tongan professional basketball player playing in the Philippines for the Meralco Bolts in the Philippine Basketball Association.... , who was still suspended by the league, participated in the game. |
||
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 1-0 | ||
On January 26, 2005, Judge Rogelio Pizarro of the Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
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
PBA Philippine Cup
The Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup is the award given at PBA's all-Filipino conference. The tournament does not allow teams to hire foreign players or imports. Prior to 2004-05 season, the tournament was then known as the PBA All-Filipino Cup...
).
The PBA Board of Governors refused to honor the court order, upholding Commissioner Noli Eala
Noli Eala
Jose Emmanuel M. Eala, better known as Noli Eala, was the sixth commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association from 2003 to 2007. Before he became the commissioner of the league, he was a play-by-play commentator of Viva-Vintage Sports, which broadcasts the PBA Games, from the early 1990s...
'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.
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
Sta. Lucia Realtors
The Sta. Lucia Realtors was a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association.The Universal Robina Corporation team is one of the founding members of the PBA. Formerly known as Great Taste and Presto-Tivoli Ice Cream, they have won a total of 6 championships. Sta...
.
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. Ginebra won against Talk 'N Text by one point, thanks to Eric Menk
Eric Menk
Eric Conrad Menk is a Filipino-American professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association for the Barangay Ginebra Kings...
'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. 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
Department of Justice (Philippines)
The Department of Justice , abbreviated as DOJ, is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for upholding the rule of law in the Philippines...
(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
Philippine Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals of the Philippines is the Philippines' second highest judicial court, just after the Supreme Court. The court consists of 68 Associate Justices and 1 Presiding Justice...
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
Eduardo Zialcita
Eduardo Zialcita is a Filipino politician and businessman. He is the current Representative for the 1st District of Paranaque City.-Controversy:...
would seek a congressional inquiry into Eala's "continued defiance" on the court orders.
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. 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%.