2003 San Miguel Beermen season

2003   San Miguel Beermen season
Head coach	Jong Uichico
General Manager	Robert Non [1]
Owner	San Miguel Corporation
All-Filipino Cup results
Record	13–8 (61.9%)
Place	N/A
Playoff finish	QF
Invitational Cup results
Record	2–2 (50%)
Place	N/A
Playoff finish	N/A
Reinforced Conference results
Record	13–12 (52%)
Place	2nd
Playoff finish	Runner-up
San Miguel Beermen seasons
←  2002 2004–05  →

The 2003 San Miguel Beermen season was the 29th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Draft picks

Main article: 2003 PBA draft

Finals stint

After missing out the finals in the last five conferences, the Beermen made it to the championship playoffs in the Reinforced Third Conference. The Beermen dropped their first five games in the eliminations, playing without an import in their first game before returnee Shea Seals suited up. Seals was replaced by Eric Dailey, who played one game before the Beermen reactivate Seals only to be replaced again this time by former Sta. Lucia import Kwan Johnson, who led the team to their first victory in their six outing, an 85–73 win over Purefoods TJ Hotdogs on September 26. ^[2]

San Miguel had five wins and eight losses at the end of the elimination round. The Beermen scored a two-game sweep off FedEx Express in the best-of-three quarterfinals and a three-game sweep over Sta.Lucia Realtors in the best-of-five semifinals to make it all the way to the championship series against the Coca-Cola Tigers. The Beermen led 2–1 in the series but lost to the Tigers in seven games.

Main article: 2003 PBA Reinforced Conference finals

Occurrences

Center Dorian Peña was suspended for two games during the All-Filipino Cup when he was tested positive of traces of marijuana in a drug test conducted by the PBA.

On June 12, two-time MVP Benjie Paras came out of retirement to sign a two-month contract with San Miguel, only his second team in a 14-year PBA career that started in 1989. The former Shell franchise player announced his retirement earlier in the year. ^[3]

When Kwan Johnson suffered a groin injury in Game one of the PBA Reinforced Conference finals, San Miguel played importless in the second game of the title series which they lost via rout. The Beermen decided to tap NBA veteran Cedric Ceballos as a temporary replacement in Game three and then opted to stick with Kwan Johnson for the rest of the finals series. ^[4]

Roster

2003 San Miguel Beermen roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. # POB Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G 1 Boybits Victoria 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) San Beda F 2 Bryan Gahol 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Philippines F 3 Nic Belasco 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Notre Dame (OH) C 4 Dorian Peña 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Coppin State G 6 Billy Moody 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Letran G 7 Dondon Hontiveros 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Cebu F/C 10 Danny Ildefonso 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) National-U F 11 Arnold Calo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) MLQU C 14 Benjie Paras 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Philippines G 17 Olsen Racela 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Ateneo G 21 Joey Mente 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Lyceum F/C 22 Arnold Gamboa 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Far Eastern F 29 Marlon Legaspi 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) MLQU F 41 Eric Dailey  (I) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Western Carolina G 32 Shea Seals  (I) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Tulsa G 23 Kwan Johnson  (I) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) New Orleans F 24 Cedric Ceballos  (I) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Cal State Fullerton

Head coach Jong Uichico Assistant(s) Siot Tanquingcen Arturo Dela Cruz Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (I) Import Injured

Game results

All-Filipino Cup

Date	Opponent	Score	Top scorer	Venue	Location
February 28	Coca-Cola	67–72		Makati Coliseum	Makati City
March 5	Red Bull	93–90		Philsports Arena	Pasig
March 9	Talk 'N Text	79–83		Araneta Coliseum	Quezon City
March 14	Brgy.Ginebra	80–76		Philsports Arena	Pasig
March 19	Alaska	81–76		Philsports Arena	Pasig
March 22	Shell	89–81		Lamberto Macias Sports Center	Dumaguete City
March 28	Purefoods	85–88	Hontiveros (22 pts)	Araneta Coliseum	Quezon City
April 4	Red Bull	93–96		Philsports Arena	Pasig
April 11	Sta.Lucia	80–77 OT		Makati Coliseum	Makati City
April 16	FedEx	81–91	Belasco (21 pts)	Philsports Arena	Pasig
April 23	Purefoods	72–82		Philsports Arena	Pasig
April 26	Alaska	78–69		Ynares Center	Antipolo City
May 3	Sta.Lucia	81–70			Puerto Princesa, Palawan
May 7	Brgy.Ginebra	103–97		Phil sports Arena	Pasig
May 14	Coca-Cola	82–77		Philsports Arena	Pasig
May 16	Shell	76–58		Ynares Center	Antipolo City
May 23	FedEx	88–79		Makati Coliseum	Makati City
May 28	Talk 'N Text	106–102	Belasco (27 pts)	Philsports Arena	Pasig

  Win
  Win via OT
  loss
  loss via OT

References

1. Henson, Joaquin M. (2003-03-26). "Dream come true". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
2. "Beermen ends losing spell with Johnson". Philippine Daily Inquirer – Google News Archive Search. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
3. "Paras Comes Out of Retirement as a Beerman". 13 June 2003. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
4. "Johnson expected to suit up for SMB". Philippine Daily Inquirer.