1992 Swift Mighty Meaties season

The 1992 Swift Mighty Meaties season was the 3rd season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Off-season transactions

Summary

The RFM franchise strengthen its lineup in their bid to become a championship-caliber team with pre-season acquisitions of Nelson Asaytono from Purefoods and Rudy Distrito from Ginebra, and with the signing of rookies Eric Reyes and the tallest player in the league; 6-9 Bonel Balingit, Swift is expected to contend in all three conferences of the season. The Mighty Meaties had David Henderson as their import in the First Conference, lost their first two games by close margins to Presto in the opening game of the season, and Purefoods in two overtimes, won three games in a row but were in danger of missing out the semifinals after losing four straight, including a heartbreaking one-point loss to Presto in Baguio City on March 14. In a must-win situation facing elimination on March 19, Swift escaped with a 115-114 win over corporate rival Purefoods on David Henderson's off-balance shot from 15-feet with four seconds remaining,^[1] at the end of the elimination round on March 24 and on the night the league pays tribute to the late sportscaster Joe Cantada, the Mighty Meaties clinch a playoff and a knockout game with Purefoods for the last seat in the semifinals by beating ousted Ginebra San Miguel, 136-122, as import David Henderson scored 51 points and pulled down 25 rebounds.^[2] Swift enters the semifinal round, eliminating Purefoods, 123-117 in their playoff game on March 26,^[3] the Mighty Meaties won three of their first four games in the semifinals for an 8-7 card, tied with Alaska and skidding Presto and just a game behind leaders Shell and San Miguel Beer, the Mighty Meaties lost a close game to the beermen and dropped their next two outings to Alaska and Shell and were booted out of the finals race.

Swift raced to a 7-3 won-loss slate in the All-Filipino Conference, tied with the San Miguel Beermen at second place, a game behind defending champion Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs at 8-2. The Mighty Meaties lost four of their first five games in the semifinals, two of them against the inspired 7-Up quintet, with no chance to avail the win five games in the semis to earn a finals playoff. Swift won their next two games and played their best in their last game against Purefoods, leading by five points with less than five minutes to go, but the TJ Hotdogs relied on Glenn Capacio's three straight triples to turn back the Mighty Meaties for the third time in the conference. Swift placed third with a 3-0 sweep over 7-Up.

Days before the start of the Third Conference, Swift coach Yeng Guiao was quote as describing their import Tony Harris as "Black Superman 2" in reference to Billy Ray Bates, the legendary import who led the famed Crispa Redmanizers to a grandslam and crowd-favorite Ginebra San Miguel to their first championship. Dubbed as the "Hurricane", Harris quickly made an impressive debut and exploded for 87 points in his first game, leading Swift to a 134-106 rout off All-Filipino Conference champion San Miguel Beer,^[4] Harris put in big numbers of 69, 57, 54, 82 and a record of 105 points in his next five games as the Mighty Meaties rolled to six straight victories, their winning streak was snapped by Alaska on October 15 as Harris was outscored by Sean Chambers and was held down to 38 points by the Milkmen's defense in a 102-115 loss. Swift top the eliminations with a 9-2 card and booked the first finals seat on November 26 with their 14th win in 18 games, winning for the third time in four meetings with Ginebra San Miguel, 145-139 as Tony Harris scored 68 points. Swift easily won their first championship in three years as their opponent 7-Up Uncolas, playing for the first time in the finals, offered a very least challenge and got swept in four games. Swift coach Yeng Guiao won his PBA title as a coach and the Mighty Meaties became the second team to score a 4-0 sweep in the best-of-seven title series.

Scoring record

October 9: Tony Harris pumped in 82 points as Swift Mighty Meaties kept its unbeaten slate at five wins in a 166-144 victory over Purefoods in Davao City.^[5]

October 10: Tony Harris scored a record-breaking 105 points in Swift's 151-147 win over Ginebra in Iloilo City, the 105-point output broke the previous record of 103 points set by Michael Hackett on November 21, 1985. The Hurricane already had 59 points at the half and a total of 86 points going into the final period.^[6]

October 18: Tony Harris scored the third highest individual output in league history, pouring in 98 points in the Meaties' 179–161 win over Presto Ice Cream.

Awards

• Tony Harris was the runaway choice for the Best Import Award in the Third Conference.
• Nelson Asaytono and Alfonso Solis were named in the Mythical first team selection.

Roster

_{Assistant Coach: Roehl Nadurata Team Manager: Elmer Yanga}

References