Air21 Express

For the Philippine Basketball Association team which formerly carried the name, see Barako Bull Energy Cola.

Air21 Express
2013–14 Air21 Express season
Joined PBA	2011
History	Shopinas.com Clickers 2011 Air21 Express 2012–present
Team colors	Indigo, Orange, and White
Owner(s)	Bert Lina
Board governor	Lito Alvarez
Company	Airfrieght 2100, Inc.
Head coach	Franz Pumaren
Championships	none
Retired numbers	1 (18)
Uniforms
Light uniform Dark uniform

The Air21 Express is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that debuted on the 2011–12 PBA season. The team debuted as the Shopinas.com Clickers during the 2011–12 PBA Philippine Cup.

History

Sale of the Barako Bull franchise

Energy Food and Drink Inc., owner of the Barako Bull Energy Boosters franchise, had informed the PBA board on March 2011 that they intend to fold citing the plan to shift their business strategy, their ongoing lawsuit against TC Pharmaceuticals Industries Co., manufacturer of Red Bull in Thailand, and the death of former board governor Tony Chua at the height of Tropical Storm Ondoy (Ketsana). Barako Bull had been on leave since the 2011 PBA Commissioner's Cup, was then planning to sell the franchise to Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., the sponsor of the league's games outside Metro Manila.^[1] On the PBA board meeting, the board disallowed the sale of the franchise to Phoenix, failing to get at least two-thirds of the ten board members, although they allowed Barako Bull to stay on leave until the 2011 PBA Governors Cup.^[2]

On June 2011, Barako Bull informed the PBA they intend to sell their franchise to the Lina Group of Companies (LGC) of Bert Lina, owner of the Air21 Express franchise reportedly for 50 million pesos. On July 2011, the board approved Barako Bull's sale to Airfreight 2100, while deferring the new franchise's concession that might be given to the team to improve its roster.^[3] Air21 Manny Alvarez mentioned that the second LGC franchise will be named Shopinas, after the group's new company that focuses into e-commerce, and that the new team's representative would be Shiela Lina, who is then forming the team's coaching staff.^[4]

First season

Philippine Cup: Disappointing maiden conference

Shopinas.com Clickers
Colors
Uniforms
Light uniform	Dark uniform

Former La Salle Green Archers coach Franz Pumaren was named as the franchise's first head coach. Pumaren, who has coached the La Salle men's varsity basketball team to five University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) basketball titles, resigned as La Salle coach in 2009 to concentrate on his political career.^[5] As a result of the old Barako Bull franchise trading away their best players, the franchise asked PBA commissioner Chito Salud for concessions in the 2011 PBA Draft, pending approval from the PBA board.^[6] The board eventually approved to give the team the first pick for the second round (11th overall).

The Clickers selected Mark Barroca, Magi Sison and Mark Cagoco in the 2011 PBA Draft. Barroca was eventually sent to the B-Meg Llamados for Brian Ilad and Elmer Espiritu in a three-way trade with Barako Bull Energy.

The team finished the Philippine Cup eliminations with a 0–14 record, setting a new all-time record for consecutive losses in a single conference, which was previously held by the 1982 Great Taste Discoverers (Reinforced Filipino Conference) and the 1984 Country Fair Hotdogs (2nd All-Filipino Conference).^[7][8]

Commissioner's Cup: Renaming as the Air21 Express

After a disappointing finish in the Philippine Cup, the Lina Group decided to rename the franchise as the Air21 Express, the name that was previously carried by their sister team, Barako Bull Energy.^[9]

Before the Commissioner's Cup started, the team traded Mark Canlas, Dennis Daa, and a 2012 first round pick to the Meralco Bolts in exchange for bigmen Nelbert Omolon and Mark Isip.^[10]

The team had signed SMART-Gilas player Marcus Douthit as their import for the Commissioner's Cup.^[11] Despite having Douthit as import, the team failed to pass through the elimination round, only finishing with a 3–6 record.

Current roster

Air21 Express (2011-present) roster v t e
Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From 5.5 !F/C 4 PHI ! Manuel, Vic 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1987-06-18 PSBA 6 PHI ! Poligrates, Eloy 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1986-29-04 Southern U 2.0 !SG 8 PHI ! Cardona, Mark 73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1981-11-03 De La Salle 1.5 !G 10 PHI ! Atkins, Simon 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1988-07-19 De La Salle 4.0 !F 11 CAN ! Anthony, Sean 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1986-26-06 McGill 4.0 !F 12 PHI ! Camson, Eric (R) 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1990-06-12 Adamson 1.5 !G 13 PHI ! Custodio, Bonbon 71 !5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1982-11-30 UE 2.0 !SG 14 PHI ! Ritualo, Ren-Ren (C) 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1979-06-14 De La Salle 2.5 !G/F 15 PHI ! Menor, Ogie 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1986-12-04 San Beda 4.0 !F 16 PHI ! Borboran, Mark (IN) 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1981-11-01 UE 2.0 !SG 18 PHI ! Yeo, Joseph 73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1983-09-07 De La Salle 1.0 !PG 19 PHI ! Arboleda, Wynne 71 !5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1976-11-26 MLQU 2.5 !G/F 21 PHI ! Jaime, Chito 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1983-10-21 AMA 2.5 !G/F 23 PHI ! Espiritu, Elmer 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1985-11-23 UE 3.0 !SF 33 PHI ! Matias, Ronnie 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1983-11-29 UM 5.5 !F/C 34 PHI ! Sharma, Carlo 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1980-09-20 De La Salle 4.5 !PF 63 SWI ! Burtscher, Michael 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1985-03-08 CCC 6.0 !C 88 TON ! Taulava, Asi 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1973-03-02 BYU–Hawaii	Head coach Franz Pumaren (De La Salle) Assistant coach(es) Jack Santiago (De La Salle) Tonichi Yturri (De La Salle) Pocholo Villanueva (De La Salle) Vergel Meneses Dan Rose Joshua Villapando Johnny Tam Lorenzo Yulo Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Season-by-season records

Records from the 2012–13 PBA season:

Retired numbers

• ^a  – retired on December 18, 2013. Meneses wore #18 during his stint for the Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola franchise from 1993 to 1999. He played for the old FedEx/Air21 franchise (now known as the Barako Bull Energy) from 2002 to 2004, wearing jersey #8.^[12]

References

External links

• Official Website