2008 PBA Fiesta Conference

2008 PBA Fiesta Conference
Duration	March 29 - August 20, 2008
TV partner/s	ABC (Local) The Filipino Channel (International)
Finals
Champions	Barangay Ginebra Kings
runners-up	Air21 Express
Awards
Best Player	Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
Best Import	Chris Alexander (Barangay Ginebra)
Finals MVP	Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk (Barangay Ginebra)
Fiesta Conference
← 2007	2009 →

The 2008 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference or known as the 2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference for sponsorship reasons, is the last conference of the 2007-08 PBA season. The tournament began on March 29 with a game between the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals at Panabo, Davao del Norte. Opening ceremonies were held the day after at the Araneta Coliseum.

All ten teams are permitted to acquire one non-Filipino (the "import") of unlimited height as reinforcement. Furthermore, the two worst performers in the elimination round of the previous conference (the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Welcoat Dragons), will also be able to acquire another import but with a height limit of 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m).

Tournament format

• Double round eliminations. Worst team would be eliminated.
• Sixth- to ninth-best teams figure in the one-game wildcard playoffs.
  • Sixth seed vs. Ninth seed
  • Seventh seed vs. Eighth seed
  • Winners will figure in a playoff to advance to the quarterfinals.
• Third- to fifth-best teams, and the winner of the wildcards advance to the best-of-three quarterfinals.
  • Third seed vs. winner of wildcards.
  • Fourth seed vs. fifth seed.
• The two best teams and the winners of the quarterfinals advance to the best-of-seven semifinals.
  • First seed vs. winner of the third seed/wildcard winner quarterfinal series
  • Second seed vs. winner of the fourth seed/fifth seed quarterfinal series
• The winners of the semifinals advance to the best-of-seven Finals; the losers figure in a one-game third-place playoff.

Elimination round

Team standings

	Qualified for semifinals
	Qualified for quarterfinals
	Qualified for wildcards
	Eliminated

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Tie
1	Air21 Express	12	6	.667	--
2	Red Bull Barako	11	7	.611	1
3	Barangay Ginebra Kings	10	8	.556	2	+14
4	Coca-Cola Tigers	10	8	.556	2	+4
5	Magnolia Beverage Masters	10	8	.556	2	-18
6	Alaska Aces	9	9	.500	3	+9
7	Talk 'N Text Phone Pals	9	9	.500	3	-9
8	Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants	8	10	.444	4
9	Sta. Lucia Realtors	7	11	.389	5
10	Welcoat Dragons	4	14	.222	8

Legend: GB = games behind; PCT = winning percentage.

Schedule

Team	Game number
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Air21	WEL	RBB	PF	Coke	TNT	ALA	BGK	SLR	Coke	MBM	BGK	RBB	SLR	ALA	TNT	WEL	MBM	PF
Alaska	SLR	BGK	MBM	WEL	RBB	A21	TNT	PF	Coke	RBB	TNT	PF	A21	WEL	SLR	Coke	MBM	BGK
Brgy. Ginebra	RBB	ALA	SLR	Coke	MBM	PF	A21	TNT	WEL	A21	MBM	RBB	SLR	PF	Coke	TNT	WEL	ALA
Coca-Cola	TNT	PF	WEL	A21	BGK	SLR	RBB	MBM	ALA	A21	RBB	WEL	PF	TNT	BGK	MBM	ALA	SLR
Magnolia	PF	SLR	ALA	TNT	BGK	WEL	RBB	Coke	PF	A21	BGK	TNT	WEL	RBB	SLR	Coke	A21	ALA
Purefoods	MBM	Coke	A21	RBB	WEL	BGK	ALA	MBM	TNT	SLR	ALA	Coke	WEL	BGK	RBB	TNT	SLR	A21
Red Bull	BGK	A21	TNT	PF	ALA	Coke	MBM	SLR	WEL	ALA	Coke	A21	BGK	MBM	PF	WEL	TNT	SLR
Sta. Lucia	ALA	MBM	BGK	TNT	Coke	WEL	RBB	A21	TNT	WEL	PF	A21	BGK	MBM	ALA	PF	Coke	RBB
Talk 'N Text	Coke	WEL	RBB	MBM	SLR	A21	ALA	WEL	BGK	SLR	PF	ALA	MBM	Coke	A21	PF	BGK	RBB
Welcoat	A21	TNT	Coke	ALA	PF	MBM	SLR	TNT	RBB	BGK	SLR	Coke	MBM	PF	ALA	A21	RBB	BGK

	Win
	Loss
	OT win
	OT loss

Bracket

Wildcard phase Knockout games										Quarterfinals Best of 3 series					Semifinals Best of 7 series					Fiesta Finals Best of 7 series
										3	Brgy. Ginebra	2
										9	Sta. Lucia	0
6	Alaska	85													3	Brgy. Ginebra	4
9	Sta. Lucia	99													2	Red Bull	0
					9	Sta. Lucia	111													3	Brgy. Ginebra	4
					7	Talk 'N Text	96													1	Air21	3
7	Talk 'N Text	98													1	Air21	4
8	Purefoods	83													5	Magnolia	2			Third-place playoff
										4	Coca-Cola	1								2	Red Bull	102
										5	Magnolia	2								5	Magnolia	90

Wildcard phase

Quarterfinals

Sta. Lucia - Barangay Ginebra series

Coca-Cola - Magnolia series

Semifinals

Air21 - Magnolia series

Red Bull - Barangay Ginebra series

Third place playoff

Finals

Lineups

Pos. No. Player School G 3 Egay Billones style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Las Piñas G/F 7 J.C. Intal style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Ateneo de Manila F/G 9 Niño Canaleta style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| East F 10 Gabby Espinas style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Philippine Christian F 12 Marvin Cruz style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| UP Diliman F/C 13 Ervin Sotto style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| St. Francis F 16 Homer Se style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| San Sebastian-Recoletos F 18 Doug Kramer style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Ateneo de Manila G 19 Wynne Arboleda (C) style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Manuel L. Quezon G 20 Gary David style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Lyceum F/G 29 Arwind Santos style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Far Eastern F 33 Ranidel de Ocampo (C) style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| St. Francis F/C 55 Steve Thomas (I) style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Middle Tennessee State Position Name/s Head coach:  Bo Perasol Assistants: Leo Isaac (C) - Captain, (I) - Import Air21 Express

Pos. No. Player School F 2 Billy Mamaril style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Bakersfield F/C 4 Rafi Reavis style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Coppin State PG 5 Macky Escalona style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Ateneo de Manila G 9 Rodney Santos style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| San Sebastian - Recoletos G/F 10 Junthy Valenzuela style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Salazar Institute Cebu PG 13 Jayjay Helterbrand (VC) style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Kentucky State PG 16 Paul Artadi style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| East G 22 Chris Pacana style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| St. Francis SF 27 Willy Wilson style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| La Salle-Manila PF/C 30 Eric Menk (C) style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Lake Superior State F 33 Victor Pablo style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Far Eastern C/F 43 Alex Crisano style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| C 44 Chris Alexander (I) style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Iowa State G 47 Mark Caguioa style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| Glendale Community G/F 71 Ronald Tubid style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| East F 80 Sunday Salvacion style="font-size: 95%; text-align: left; width=25%""| St. Benilde Position Name/s Head coach:  Jong Uichico Assistants: Art dela Cruz, Marco Januz Sauler, Allan Caidic (C) - Team Captain, (VC) - Vice Captain, (I) - Import, - Injured Barangay Ginebra Kings

Games

Awards

• Finals Most Valuable Player: Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk (Barangay Ginebra)
• Best Player of the Conference: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
• Best Import of the Conference: Chris Alexander (Barangay Ginebra)
• Players of the Week:
  • March 29-April 6: Kelly Williams (Sta. Lucia)
  • April 7–13: Danny Seigle (Magnolia)
  • April 14–20: Cyrus Baguio (Red Bull)
  • April 22-May 4: Mark Cardona (Talk 'N Text)
  • May 5–11: Asi Taulava (Coca-Cola) & Rob Wainwright (Welcoat)
  • May 12–18: Willie Miller (Alaska)
  • May 19–25: Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
  • May 26-June 1: Gary David (Air21)
  • June 2–8: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
  • June 9–15: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
  • June 16–22: Lordy Tugade (Magnolia) & Ren-Ren Ritualo (Talk 'N Text)
  • June 23–29: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
  • June 30-July 6: Gary David (Air21) & Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
  • July 7-July 13: Joseph Yeo (Sta. Lucia)
  • July 14-July 20: none
  • July 21-July 27: Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
  • July 28-August 3: Gary David (Air21)

Broadcast notes

The 2008 Fiesta Conference is the last PBA tournament that will be broadcast by the Associated Broadcasting Company. Afterwards, Radio Philippines Network will be the PBA's new broadcaster. ABC's reformatting as "TV5" will take effect while the Finals is ongoing and the Fiesta Finals will be the last PBA event covered under the ABC name and the only PBA event that'll be covered under the TV5 name.

The finals broadcasters are:

Game	Play-by-play	Analyst
Game 1	Richard del Rosario	Jason Webb
Game 2	Ed Picson	Quinito Henson
Game 3	Mico Halili	Rado Dimalibot
Game 4	Ed Picson	Jason Webb
Game 5	Mico Halili	Quinito Henson
Game 6	Ed Picson	Quinito Henson
Game 7	Mico Halili	Jason Webb

Featured songs include "Face Down" by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

List of imports

The following is the list of imports, which had played for their respective teams at least once, with the returning imports in italics. Highlighted are the imports who stayed with their respective teams for the whole conference.

#	Name	Team	Debuted
1	Calvin Cage	Coca-Cola Tigers	March 29 vs. Talk 'N Text
2	Jason Dixon	Coca-Cola Tigers	March 29 vs. Talk 'N Text
3	Aaron McGhee	Talk 'N Text Phone Pals	March 29 vs. Coca-Cola
4	Steve Thomas	Air21 Express	March 30 vs. Welcoat
5	Jason Keep	Welcoat Dragons	March 30 vs. Air21
6	Cory Santee	Welcoat Dragons	March 30 vs. Air21
7	Adam Parada	Red Bull Barako	March 30 vs. Brgy. Ginebra
8	Rahshon Turner	Barangay Ginebra Kings	March 30 vs. Red Bull
9	Wesley Wilson	Sta. Lucia Realtors	April 2 vs. Alaska
10	Randy Holcomb	Alaska Aces	April 2 vs. Sta. Lucia
11	Darius Rice	Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants	April 2 vs. Magnolia
12	Jameel Watkins	Magnolia Beverage Masters	April 2 vs. Purefoods
13	Marquis Gainous	Welcoat Dragons	April 9 vs. Coca-Cola
14	Ernest Brown	Barangay Ginebra Kings	April 12 vs. Sta. Lucia
15	George Gervin, Jr.	Coca-Cola Tigers	April 13 vs. Air21
16	Chris Alexander	Barangay Ginebra Kings	May 2 vs. Purefoods
17	Reda Rhalimi	Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants	May 10 vs. Alaska
18	Donald Copeland	Coca-Cola Tigers	May 23 vs. Red Bull
19	Jamar Brown	Sta. Lucia Realtors	June 1 vs. Air21
20	Lee Benson, Jr.	Sta. Lucia Realtors	June 13 vs. Magnolia
21	Amal McCaskill	Magnolia Beverage Masters	June 13 vs. Sta. Lucia
22	Terrence Leather	Talk 'N Text Phone Pals	June 13 vs. Air21
23	Alex Compton	Welcoat Dragons	June 18 vs. Air21
24	Brandon Dean	Coca-Cola Tigers	July 13 vs. Magnolia

External links

• Philippine Basketball Association official website

2007–08 PBA season 2007 draft 2007–08 PBA Philippine Cup (Finals) 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference (Finals) All-Star Weekend Team seasons Air21 Express Alaska Aces Barangay Ginebra Kings Coca-Cola Tigers Magnolia Beverage Masters Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants Red Bull Barako Sta. Lucia Realtors Talk 'N Text Phone Pals Welcoat Dragons Succession 2006–07 Seasons 2008–09 2006–07 Philippine Cup 2008–09 2007 Fiesta Conference 2009

Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Conference 2004 2005 2005–06 2007 2008 2009 2010

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