1996 San Miguel Beermen season

The 1996 San Miguel Beermen season was the 22nd season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

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Summary

All-Filipino Cup: San Miguel Beer banked on Allan Caidic's two clutch triples to defeat Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, 80-69, in the season opener on February 18. The Beermen lost to Ginebra and Shell in succession before nipping Alaska, 74-72 on March 3, to split their first four games. On March 9, San Miguel held Pepsi Mega to a record-low 54 points in a 95-54 victory in Dumaguete City.^[2] After 10 games in the eliminations, the San Miguel management decided to trade Ato Agustin to Sunkist for Nelson Asaytono. On April 7, Asaytono debut in San Miguel uniform in a 76-84 loss to Purefoods. The Beermen finish the eliminations with an 8-6 won-loss slate, they fell one game short of securing a playoff for a finals berth, winning four of their eight semifinal assignments. San Miguel placed third overall in the All-Filipino Cup.

Commissioner's Cup: Agee Ward flew in to replace the Beermen's original choice for an import; Norris Coleman, in time for their first game against Purefoods, which has signed up the former Swift import and one-time best import awardee Ronnie Thompkins. Ward scored only 12 points in an 87-108 loss by the Beermen and was sent home. In San Miguel's next game against Sta.Lucia in Dagupan City which they lost, coach Norman Black came out of a six-year retirement and suited up as their import and the Beermen also welcomes the return of Samboy Lim in action. The Beermen settled down with Andre Spencer, who had stints with Golden State and Sacramento in the NBA, after a 0-4 won-loss start. San Miguel won four straight games to even their card to 4-win, 4-loss,^[3] but the Beermen lost their last two games to Sunkist and Purefoods and were eliminated from the semifinal round.

Governors Cup: Lamont Strothers, who had one-year stints with Portland and Dallas in the NBA, was the Beermen's import for the Third Conference. Strothers' PBA campaign took off in the wrong foot when he got involved in an ugly brawl with Mobiline's Jack Tanuan during a pre-tournament game. San Miguel nip Mobiline, 105-104, in the opening game on September 29.^[4] In their third outing a week later on October 6, Lamont Strothers scored 56 points in a 97-86 win over Sta.Lucia.^[5] The Beermen carry a 6-5 won-loss card after the eliminations and with a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals. San Miguel were forced into a playoff by Purefoods but went on to beat the Corned Beef Cowboys, 89-86, in their do-or-die encounter on November 24. The Beermen advances into the best-of-five semifinal series against sister team Ginebra San Miguel, after winning Game one, the Beermen lost both the next two games in overtime and were finished off in Game four following Ginebras' 122-106 win.

Roster

Pos. No. Player School G 5 Franz Pumaren De La Salle G 7 Michael Mustre Letran F 8 Allan Caidic UE F 9 Samboy Lim Letran C 10 Adriano Polistico Letran F 11 Nelson Asaytono (A) University of Manila F 12 Yves Dignadice West Negros College C 14 Gilbert Castillo Letran G 16 Roel Bravo University of Manila F 18 Arturo Dela Cruz San Sebastian G 22 Frankie Lim San Beda F 23 Paul Alvarez San Sebastian F 25 Freddie Abuda University of Visayas C 52 Gido Babilonia UST F 21 Agee Ward (C) F 24 Norman Black (C) Saint Joseph's University F Andre Spencer (C) Northern Arizona University G 42 Lamont Strothers (G) Christopher Newport University G 6 Renato Agustin (T) Lyceum F 11 Marcelino Morelos (T) UE Position Name/s Head coach:  Norman Black Assistants: Jong Uichico / Filomeno Pumaren (T) - Traded, (A) - Acquired via trade, (C) - Commissioners Cup import, (G) - Governors Cup import '

_{Team Manager: Nazario Avendaño}

References