1989 San Miguel Beermen season

The 1989 San Miguel Beermen season was the 15th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Draft picks

Notable achievement

The San Miguel Beermen became the third team in PBA Annals History to win the Grandslam, duplicating the feat achieved by the famed Crispa Redmanizers, first in 1976 and in 1983. It also made Norman Black the 3rd. PBA coach to win the said feat behind Baby Dalupan & Tommy Manotoc.

Awards

• Hector Calma was voted finals MVP in the three Conference-sweep by the Beermen.
• Ramon Fernandez lost out in the MVP honors, and settled for the Mythical Five Selection, along with Hector Calma.
• Two other beermen; Elmer Reyes and Alvin Teng, made it to the Mythical Second Team.

Summary

Open Conference: The defending champions opened its title-retention campaign with a thrilling 140-136 come-from-behind victory over Formula Shell in the second game of the league opening on March 5 before a jampacked crowd at the ULTRA, the Beermen overcame Bobby Parks' 72 points for Shell and spoiled the debut of prize rookie center Benjie Paras, who tallied only 8 points in his first game. The Beermen, with Michael Phelps returning as their import, completed a 10-game sweep in the eliminations, and advances into the finals with ease, with still four scheduled playing dates left in the semifinals. San Miguel easily retains the Open Conference crown with a 4-1 series victory over Formula Shell.

All-Filipino Conference: The Beermen raced to a 7-win, 1-loss start, losing only to Presto Tivoli, when on July 18 in their second meeting with the hot-streaking Purefoods Hotdogs, just a game behind and on a four-game winning run, the Beermen lost Samboy Lim to an injury due to a bad fall late in the fourth quarter after going up against three hotdogs' defenders, the Beermen lost, 115-125, ^[1] and dropped their next game to Añejo Rum for their first back-to-back losses in the conference. The San Miguel Beermen and Purefoods Hotdogs, two equally talented teams, eventually played in the championship series in a highly-anticipated finals affair, the Beermen prevailed in six games to win their first All-Filipino crown and seventh league title and achieved step number two towards a possible grandslam.

Reinforced Conference: San Miguel welcomes the return of Ricardo Brown from the lineup after skipping the first two conferences, the brought in Indiana's Keith Smart, best remembered for hitting the marginal basket that gave Indiana the 1987 NCAA championship, as their import. In their first game against Purefoods, Smart was outplayed by Dexter Shouse and the Beermen suffered their worst defeat in the season, a 94-126 loss to the Hotdogs, after losing their next game to Añejo Rum, the Beermen won three straight games for a 3-2 won-loss card in the first round of eliminations, Smart was replaced after five games by Ennis Whatley, the Beermen were tied with Purefoods Hotdogs at 6-win, 4-loss after the eliminations, lost their first two games in the semifinals in overtime, both by two points to Añejo and Purefoods, before winning six in a row for a third trip into the finals series. San Miguel won the Grandslam with a 4-1 series win over sister team Añejo Rum 65.

Notable dates

March 16: Defeated Presto Ice Cream, 118-107, for a sweep in the first round of eliminations in the Open Conference. ^[2]

April 9: The Beermen withstood a challenge from the Purefoods Hotdogs midway in the final quarter, back-to-back triples by Ricardo Cui and Franz Pumaren and a steal from an inbound and a triple by Michael Phelps capped a 9-0 run to put the game away in a 122-116 victory as San Miguel keeps their unbeaten slate intact with a 10-game sweep in the eliminations. ^[3]

April 27: The Beermen claim the first finals berth in the Open Conference with their 13th win in 15 games, winning over Presto Ice Cream, 101-99. ^[4]

July 2: Franz Pumaren scored on a go-ahead layup with 3 ticks left as San Miguel nip Purefoods, 117-116 in the first meeting between two-highly rated teams in the All-Filipino Conference, Pumaren scored the last five points for the beermen, the Hotdogs, who trailed most of the way, grabbed the upperhand twice in the final two minutes, the last at 116-115 on Nelson Asaytono's follow-up shot with 6 seconds to go.

July 25: The Beermen snapped a two-game losing streak, with a 123-115 win over eliminated-Presto Tivolis, and avenged their first round loss to this same team last June 29, San Miguel finish the eliminations at 8-wins, 3-loss. ^[5]

July 27: San Miguel halted Purefoods' seven game-winning run and tied their standings at 9-win, 3-loss, with a 112-108 victory on the first day of the semifinal round. ^[6]

August 6: The "Skywalker" returns, a last-second shot by Samboy Lim on a perfect pass by Bobby Jose gave San Miguel Beer an all-important 121-120 victory over Formula Shell. ^[7]

October 15: San Miguel notch its third win in a row after losing their first two games in the Reinforced Conference, beating Presto Tivoli, 139-136, beermen import Keith Smart completed a three-point play with five seconds to go in a bizarre ending placed under protest by the Tivolis, citing the grievous error and judgment call by referee Rudy Hines, who ruled a sideline inbound in favor of the beermen when the ball clearly bounced off the foot of Smart with six seconds remaining and the score tied at 136-all.

November 21: San Miguel secured a finals seat and a quest for a Grandslam bid alive, defeating Alaska Milk, 124-119 for its 12th win in 18 games, leaving the other seat contested by Purefoods Hotdogs and Añejo Rum 65. ^[8]

Roster

_{Assistant Coach: Derrick Pumaren Team Manager: Augusto Gregorio}

References