1995 Sunkist Orange Juicers season | |
---|---|
Head coach | Derrick Pumaren |
General Manager | Elmer Yanga |
Owner(s) | RFM Corporation |
All Filipino Cup results | |
Record | 7–3 (70%) |
Place | 1st |
Playoff finish | Champions (def. Alaska) |
Commissioner's Cup results | |
Record | 9–1 (90%) |
Place | 1st |
Playoff finish | Champions (def. Alaska) |
Governor's Cup results | |
Record | 8–2 (80%) |
Place | 1st |
Playoff finish | Semifinals, Third Placer (def. Formula Shell) |
Sunkist Orange Juicers seasons | |
The 1995 Sunkist Orange Juicers season was the 6th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Round | Pick | Player | College |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Kenneth Duremdes | Adamson |
2 | Alejandro Paguinto | FEU |
In the All-Filipino Cup, Sunkist finish on top of the standings with a 7-3 won-loss slate. The Juicers won six of their eight games in the semifinals to advance into the championship playoffs, they battled the Alaska Milkmen for the All-Filipino Cup title in a finals rematch as the two teams previously fought in the championship in last season's Governors Cup where Alaska won in six games. Sunkist this time prevailed in a hard-fought seven-game series, Vergel Meneses played the hero's role in the deciding Game Seven, the Juicers were down by four, 69-73, with 25.4 seconds remaining in regulation, Meneses buried a triple to cut Alaska's lead to a point. The game went into overtime and Sunkist won, 87-78, as the Juicers captured their first All-Filipino title and third overall crown. Sunkist lost Rudy Distrito after Game four of the finals series when he committed a horrendous shove on a driving Jeffrey Cariaso. Distrito was banned by the PBA for the rest of the season.
Sunkist brought in former Purefoods import Ronnie Grandison in the Commissioners Cup. The Orange Juicers were unbeaten with nine straight victories but failed to complete a 10-game sweep when they lost to Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, 81-91, on the last playing date of the eliminations on July 18. Sunkist arranged a best-of-five semifinal series encounter with fourth-seeded Purefoods by winning their last game in the quarterfinals against Formula Shell, 106-103 on August 8. [1] Going up against their two-time tormentors in the conference who were slightly favored, Sunkist won Game One, 85-83, on Meneses' buzzer-beating jump shot. The series went into a deciding fifth game where the Juicers led by as much as 16 points in the fourth quarter and starved off repeated rallies by the Hotdogs to win, 105-99, and set the stage for the third straight Sunkist-Alaska finale. The Orange Juicers won for the second time in a finals series against the Alaska Milkmen, four games to two, to keep their Grandslam hopes alive.
In the Governor's Cup, Sunkist had gotten an impressive reinforcement in Stevin Smith, nickname "Hedake", he often hit clutch treys in the closing seconds of some of the Orange Juicers' exciting wins, particularly their elimination game against Alaska and in their first game in the semifinal round against Formula Shell. The Orange Juicers lost three crucial games towards the end of the semifinals with Shell pulling off a 113-103 win that ended the Juicers' Grandslam bid. Sunkist placed third in the Governors Cup.
June 11: Sunkist Orange Juicers unleashed its offensive power in the second quarter and went on to trample Purefoods Hotdogs, 104-98. Former Hotdog import Ronnie Grandison topscored for Sunkist with 27 points and 18 rebounds. [2]
June 23: Boybits Victoria hit a fadeaway jumper from the right flank with 22.1 seconds left as Sunkist escaped with a come-from-behind 98-95 victory over Shell for its fourth straight victory. [3]
June 25: Sunkist stays unbeaten and zoomed to their fifth straight win and on top of the Commissioners Cup standings as they demolished All-Filipino rival Alaska Milkmen, 103-87. [4]
October 31: Stevin Smith rose to another level in the last 90 seconds, beating Johnny Abarrientos in a one-on-one duel down the stretch by burying a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the left flank with 1.9 seconds left to give Sunkist a thrilling 101-100 triumph over Alaska Milkmen. [5]
November 12: Stevin Smith again found a way out for Sunkist as he buried a game-deciding three-pointer with 16.1 seconds to play that nipped Formula Shell, 98-96 in overtime. [6]
Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
Player | Signed | Former team |
Ric-Ric Marata | Off-season | Shell |
IMPORT | Conference | No. | Pos. | Ht. | College | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ronnie Grandison | Commissioner's Cup | 31 | Forward | 6"5' | UNO | June 11 to September 5 |
Stevin Smith | Governors Cup | 2 | Guard | 6"0' | Arizona State | October 1 to December 12 |
The Pop Cola Panthers were a professional basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association from 1990-2001. The franchise was owned by RFM Corporation. In 2001, when RFM Corporation sold its entire stake in Cosmos Bottling Corporation to Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI), the PBA franchise was included in the transaction. Upon ownership by CCBPI, the PBA franchise renamed the Coca-Cola Tigers beginning the 2002 PBA season and was considered as an expansion team.
The 1992 PBA season was the 18th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1993 PBA season was the 19th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1994 PBA season was the 20th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1995 PBA season was the 21st season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1996 PBA season was the 22nd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1995 PBA Commissioner's Cup finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 1995 PBA Commissioner's Cup, and the conclusion of the conference playoffs. The Sunkist Orange Juicers and the Alaska Milkmen played for the 61st championship contested by the league.
The 1995 PBA All-Filipino Cup finals was the best-of-7 series basketball championship of the 1995 PBA All-Filipino Cup, and the conclusion of the conference playoffs. The Sunkist Orange Juicers and Alaska Milkmen played for the 60th championship contested by the league.
The 1995 Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs season was the 8th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1996 Alaska Milkmen season was the 11th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1995 Alaska Milkmen season was the 10th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1993 Swift Mighty Meaty Hotdogs season was the fourth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1996 Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs season was the 9th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team was known as Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys starting the Governor's Cup.
The 1996 Formula Shell Zoom Masters season was the 12th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1996 Ginebra San Miguel season was the 18th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1995 San Miguel Beermen season was the 21st season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1996 Sunkist Orange Bottlers season was the seventh season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known as the Sunkist Orange Juicers in the All-Filipino Cup.
The Purefoods Corporation had a basketball rivalry with the Republic Flour Mills (RFM) company in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for most of the 1990s, where they competed not only in sports but also in products.
The 1995 Formula Shell Zoom Masters season was the 11th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known as Shell Rimula X in the All-Filipino Cup and Formula Shell Gas Kings in the Commissioner's Cup.
The Ginebra–Shell rivalry is the early 1990s PBA rivalry that followed the San Miguel–Purefoods rivalry and Añejo–Purefoods rivalry and probably the decades' best rivalry before Sunkist and Alaska battled in the PBA championship for three straight conferences in the mid-1990s.