Roster
| Pop Cola Bottlers roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1997 Pop Cola Bottlers season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Derrick Pumaren Arturo Valenzona Norman Black |
| Owner(s) | RFM Corporation |
| All-Filipino Cup results | |
| Place | 7th |
| Playoff finish | N/A |
| Commissioner's Cup results | |
| Record | 4–6 (40%) |
| Place | 7th |
| Playoff finish | N/A |
| Governor's Cup results | |
| Record | 5–9 (35.7%) |
| Place | 7th |
| Playoff finish | N/A |
| Pop Cola Bottlers seasons | |
The 1997 Pop Cola Bottlers season was the eighth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
| Round | Pick | Player | College |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Nic Belasco | Notre Dame-Maryland |
| 2 | 10 | Romulo Marata | Adamson |
February 22: Pop Cola stuns defending champion Alaska Milkmen, 96–88 in Lipa City, Batangas, for their first win in two starts.
September 20: Vergel Meneses tallied a game-high 36 points, and import Byron Houston added 29 points with 19 rebounds as Pop Cola gave their new coach Norman Black his first win at the start of the Governor's Cup with a 108–92 victory over Purefoods in the out-of-town game in Tarlac State University Gym. [1]
Starting the Commissioners Cup, coach Derrick Pumaren was replaced by Arturo Valenzona, whose last coaching job in the PBA was nine years ago. Valenzona chooses Alfrancis Chua as his assistant coach while Pumaren remain as a team consultant.
After Pop Cola's failure to reach the semifinals for the fifth straight time, a player-coach trade took place between the two teams that didn't make past the eliminations in the Commissioner's Cup, the Bottlers acquired Norman Black from Mobiline as their head coach along with Elpidio Villamin and Peter Martin in exchange for guard Ato Agustin and their former coach Derrick Pumaren, who has now moved over to the Mobiline camp. Upon Norman Black's entry at Pop Cola, Alfrancis Chua was retain as assistant coach while Arturo Valenzona was relegated to team consultant. [2]
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| Name | Deal Information | Former team |
|---|---|---|
| Eugene Quilban | Acquired Mobiline late last year in a trade with Eric Reyes | Mobiline |
| Jack Tanuan | Acquired from Mobiline late last year in a trade with Alvin Teng |
| July 1997 | To Mobiline #6 Ato Agustin | To Pop Cola Elpidio Villamin, Peter Martin |
| October 27, 1997 [3] | To Alaska #19 Kenneth Duremdes, #14 Jack Tanuan | To Pop Cola Boyet Fernandez, Dwight Lago |
| Tournament | Name | Number | Position | University/College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioner's Cup | Norris Coleman | 8 | Forward | Kansas State University |
| Governors' Cup | Byron Houston | 8 | Guard | Oklahoma State University |
The TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 1990.
The Sta. Lucia Realtors were a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1993 to 2010. Prior to joining the PBA, it played in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) from 1987 to 1992.
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 1997 PBA season was the 23rd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1998 PBA season was the 24th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 2000 PBA season was the 26th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Frederick "Derrick" S. Pumaren, better known on his nickname Manong Derrick, is a Filipino basketball coach who was recently the coach of the De La Salle Green Archers in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). He coached several teams in the UAAP, PBA, and PBL.
Alfrancis P. Chua is a Filipino sports executive and former basketball player and coach. He is currently the team manager of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the sports director of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), overseeing the professional sports teams of the SMC group.
Vigildo Quezon T. Babilonia was a Filipino basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association.
The 1997 Mobiline Cellulars season was the eighth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team change its moniker from Cellulars to Mobiline Phone Pals beginning the Governor's Cup.
The 1997 Alaska Milkmen season was the 12th 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 1999 Tanduay Gold Rhum Masters season was the first season of the new franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1998 Pop Cola 800s season was the ninth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1999 Sta.Lucia Realtors season was the seventh season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
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 1998 Sta. Lucia Realtors season was the sixth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1998 Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies season was the 11th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team return to their former name Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs starting the Commissioners Cup.
The 2001 Tanduay Rhum Masters season was the final season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The 1998 PBA All-Star Weekend is the annual all-star weekend of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Instead of the old formats of pitting its stars from the North against the South or the veterans versus the youngsters, the league this time featured the Philippine Centennial Team against a PBA Selection, reinforced by imports.
