Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings Team History

The Barangay Ginebra Kings is a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association founded in 1979 and owned by the Ginebra San Miguel, Inc., a subsidiary of the San Miguel Corporation. It is one of the most popular teams in the league and the entire Philippines for that matter.

After some rough times during their first few seasons, their fortunes changed when Robert Jaworski and Francis Arnaiz arrived in 1984, following the disbandment of the famed Toyota squad.

Jaworski, as a playing head coach, then steered the franchise to four PBA titles (1986, 1988, 1991, and 1997) with the tough and physical squad of the likes of Chito Loyzaga, Dondon Ampalayo, Dante Gonzalgo, Leo Isaac and Rudy Distrito, and for some times imports like Michael Hackett and Billy Ray Bates. He left the team in 1998 with the squad of Marlou Aquino, Bal David, Vince Hizon, to name a few.

Siot Tanquingcen and current head coach Jong Uichico then led the Kings to four more titles as head coaches of the squad led by Mark Caguioa, Jayjay Helterbrand and Eric Menk among others.

History

1979-1984: Gilbey's Gin

Joining the league in 1979, the team was known as Gilbey's Gin of then-owner and team founder Carlos Palanca Jr.'s La Tondeña franchise. Its first head coach was Pilo Pumaren and was bannered by former MICAA standout Willie Tanduyan and imports Larry McNeil and Dean Tolson. Gilbey's managed to place fourth in the 1979 Invitational tournament.

Willie Generalao won the Rookie of the Year honors during the 1980 season as Gilbey's placed fourth in the All-Filipino tournament.

Gilbey's also changed its name one time as St. George Whiskies where they had a bunch of young teenagers acting as cheerleaders. [1].

In 1982, the Gins made it to their first Finals appearance during the Open Conference. But they were swept by Toyota of coach Ed Ocampo, Robert Jaworski, and Ramon Fernandez.

Gilbey's made another Finals appearance in the 1983 All-Filipino but was also swept by the Crispa Redmanizers in the first of three titles won by the Redmanizers.

Before the 1984 season, Toyota announced its departure from the league after winning nine titles in nine seasons. As part of an agreement with new team Beer Hausen, the rights of the Toyota players was acquired by Beer Hausen. The team, owned by Lucio Tan, was entering its first year in the PBA.

Jaworski, Francis Arnaiz, Arnie Tuadles and Chito Loyzaga refused to join Beer Hausen. This further ignited the internal Toyota feud between Jaworski and Fernandez which went on for the next several years. With this development, Gilbey's accepted Jaworski and Arnaiz, Arnie Tuadles and Chito Loyzaga joined Great Taste, while the rest of the Toyota players, led by Fernandez, joined Beer Hausen.

Gilbey's suffered another loss in the championship as the Crispa Redmanizers defeated the Gins, 4-1, giving Crispa its last PBA title.

1985-1988: Ginebra San Miguel

By 1985, Gilbey's was renamed as Ginebra San Miguel. Following the addition of Robert Jaworski and Francis Arnaiz. These were mostly Toyota fans that followed the two players, cheered themselves hoarse in the rafters were the old raucous Toyota cheering squads in the rafters of the Araneta Coliseum. With Jaworski and Arnaiz at the forefront, it grew as the former Toyota players tandem infected the team with the legendary Toyota fighting spirit:

The biggest manifestation was when, Jaworski came back from the nearby Medical City with seven stitches in his lip to lead the Gins to a come-from-behind victory against NCC. Jaworski incurred this from a wayward elbow inflicted by Jeff Moore in the second quarter. But with them behind by 15 points going into the final seven minutes of the game, Jaworski re-entered the court and sparked a frenzy that to date, has yet been matched. The NCC team simply froze upon the sight of the Big J and didn't know what hit them, eventually losing to the Gins.[2]

Jaworski and Arnaiz turned the moribund franchise into a competitive team almost overnight when in the first conference of the 1984 season, the All-Filipino Conference, they led the team to the finals against Crispa.

However in 1985, Ginebra failed to enter the finals in each of the three conferences, showing only a strong finish in the Reinforced Conference.

Michael Hackett also saw his name in the PBA record books by scoring 103 points in Ginebra's 197-168 victory against Great Taste on November 21, 1985. This was later broken by Swift's Tony Harris in a 1992 game against Ginebra.

Former Crispa import Billy Ray Bates was brought in for the 1986 Open Conference. Each PBA team was allowed to get two imports for the said conference. Bates' other partner was Michael Hackett, who was the 1985 Open Conference Best Import. It is believed that the pair was the greatest import tandem in PBA history.

The two lead Ginebra in the Finals of the tournament against Manila Beer (formerly Beer Hausen), with Abet Guidaben and imports Michael Young and Harold Keeling. Bates and Hackett powered Ginebra to a 4-1 win in the series to give the team its first-ever championship.

Unfortunately, Francis Arnaiz suddenly left for the United States before Ginebra won its first championship, ending his 11-year career and tandem with Jaworski.

1988-1991: Añejo Rhum 65ers

In 1988, Ginebra changed their name to Añejo Rhum. The Rhummasters entered the finals via playoff game vs San Miguel with a classic finish. The Big J made a perfect pass to Romulo Mamaril and made the game winning basket. Añejo took on new team Purefoods in the Finals of the All-Filipino Conference. Añejo won the series 3-1 over the young Purefoods team led by Jerry Codiñera, Alvin Patrimonio, and Jojo Lastimosa (who had a confrontation with Jaworski). During this time, Ramon Fernandez was benched by the Purefoods for alleged game-fixing. In the final game, three Rhummasters scored 25 points or more - Joey Loyzaga, Dondon Ampalayo, and Sonny Jaworski - as the 65ers did not allow the then rookie-laden Purefoods team to gain confidence. Of course, the game was close all throughout until the final 3 minutes of the game when Loyzaga and Jaworski uncorked 3-pointers that iced the win. Also known as the best All Filipino underdog team ever to grabbed the All-Filipino Title. [3] Anejo Rhum clinched the 1988 PBA-IBA World Challenge Cup Title with Bobby Parks as their import by beating international teams and met Alaska Airforce in the lone final game.

In the season-ending Reinforced Conference wherein teams were allowed two imports each, Añejo again hired the great Billyray Bates and paired him with Kevin Gamble. After only four games, the PBA's "greatest import ever" was sent home for good. Añejo would finish the season with the exciting and high-scoring duo of Joe Ward and Tommy Davis as imports.

On the next season, Añejo lost in five games to the grand slam winning San Miguel Beer in the Third Conference. In that Conference, Añejo paraded another super import in Carlos Briggs, who easily bagged the Best Import Award.

In 1990, Añejo entered the finals of the First Conference against Benjie Paras and the Shell Rimula X team. In Game Six, with Shell already leading the series 3-2, Añejo protested a foul on Rey Cuenco with a few minutes left in the second quarter. This led to the infamous walk out of Añejo. The team also complained about the unfavorable officiating as the team had more fouls than Shell. In the end, the game was forfeited and awarded the title to Shell.

The result of this event gave the team a fine of more than 500,000 PHP which was then the highest fine in league history.

1991-1996: Back to Ginebra San Miguel

In 1991, Añejo reverted back to Ginebra. They met Shell once again in the 1991 First Conference final. Shell goes up 3-1 in the series, needing only a win to clinch the series. But Ginebra managed a furious comeback to force a seventh game. In the final seconds of Game 7, an off-balanced shot by Rudy Distrito with a second remaining sealed Ginebra's third PBA title and completed the greatest comeback in PBA history.

Ginebra placed third in the 1992 Reinforced Conference. But at that time, the team was starting to fade.

In the 1993 pre-season, the Gins were given the second overall pick in the 1993 PBA draft behind new team Sta. Lucia Realty which replaced Presto. They drafted former FEU power forward Victor Pablo but immediately traded him to the 7-Up Bottlers for veterans Manny Victorino and Alejo Alolor. The said trade was lambasted by most fans, and it cost Ginebra their performance for the year where they compiled a 9-26 record in all three conferences. This horrible performance gave them the top pick in the next draft.

In 1994, in an effort to change their fortunes, the team was renamed as Tondeña 65 Rhum Masters. The team selected Noli Locsin with their first pick, and was hoped to make team better. But Tondeña's struggles continued, winning just 12 of the 32 games that year.

In 1995, the team reverted again to Ginebra. They selected 7-0 center E.J. Feihl and also drafted Jaworski's son, Robert Jr. The drafting of Feihl surprised people. They were expecting Ginebra to either draft Kenneth Duremdes or Jeffrey Cariaso at that time. Jaworski later quoted, "It's not everyday that you see a 7-footer applying for the draft." Unfortunately, misfortunes still struck the team as Ginebra won only 5 of the 30 games played that year, capped by a 0-10 win-loss record during the Governor's Cup. The worst season triggered rumors that Ginebra was disbanding. But the rumor was quickly killed off after the team posted a printed advertisement in major newspapers that they were staying in the PBA. Ginebra got the top pick again in the next draft. This was the last time a PBA team with the worst record was awarded the top pick in the draft. In the succeeding drafts, the worst PBA team had to compete with the second worst team via lottery to determine the top pick in the draft.

In 1996, Ginebra used the top overall pick to draft controversial center Marlou Aquino from Adamson University. Aquino was a big star in the PBL for Nikon and Stag Pale Pilsen but was involved in a controversial scandal in terms of his academic status with Adamson, although this was later neglected when he jumped pro. Aquino showed the promise Ginebra fans expected during the All-Filipino Conference. It also showed the discovery of former University of Santo Tomas guard Bal David as one of the team's popular players along with Vince Hizon, Jayvee Gayoso, and Pido Jarencio.

In the Commissioner's Cup, the team paraded NBA veteran Henry James as Ginebra wound up in an elimination game against Formula Shell. Kenny Redfield's buzzer-beating three enabled Shell to enter the finals. Ginebra finally entered the Finals of the Governor's Cup but lost to the grand slam winning Alaska Milkmen in five games.

Aquino's impact on Ginebra gave the team a 30-game improvement from a year ago and was named as the Rookie of the Year.

1997-1998: Gordon's Gin Boars

In 1997, Ginebra was renamed once again, this time as the Gordon's Gin Boars. Gordon's was now a contender for the league's 23rd season.

One of the most memorable shots in team history was Bal David's final second heave from half-court to defeat San Miguel by a point during the All-Filipino Cup.

Gordon's entered the Finals of the All-Filipino against the Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys. Purefoods managed to take a 3-1 series lead. In Game Five, they were about to score a winning basket after a Gordon's turnover. But Vince Hizon blocked Dindo Pumaren's layup, as the Boars lived another day. Unfortunately, in Game Six, the strong performance of Alvin Patrimonio and company denied Gordon's a title losing the series 4-2. The loss marked Jaworski's (player-coach) last game with the La Tondeña franchise and did not enter himself in a game since.

In the Commissioner's Cup, NBA veteran Chris King became a replacement in time for the semis of the tournament. Gordon's met sister-team San Miguel in an elimination semifinal match. It was a true classic game that went to double overtime and saw several comebacks by Gordon's. Specially they are down by five in dying seconds of the 1st overtime, the Boars then comeback to tied the game for good. They're longest playoff survival game to clinch the 2nd final berth. The Boars won, 106-100, to meet Alaska in the finals. Gordon's eventually defeated Alaska in six games for their first title in six years. Jaworski got into the mic and thanked the Gordon's Gin fans for their support.

Expectations were high for the Governor's Cup, but they were eliminated by Sta. Lucia in the quarterfinals.

In 1998, Jaworski ran for a senatorial seat for the elections which he won by a lot of votes. This led to a conflict between Jaworski's role in the Senate and his role as coach of Ginebra (named during the Commissioner's Cup). Assistant Rino Salazar was named as interim coach at one point. Ginebra still struggled despite the addition of Bong Alvarez to the team.

That year, Danding Cojuangco regained ownership of San Miguel Corporation. One of the moves the team made was adding Allan Caidic from San Miguel Beer. This caused a rift between Jaworski and the new management because he was not informed of the move. In a press conference held at the Senate, Jaworski resigned as player-coach of Ginebra.

Jaworski was considered the oldest basketball player on any roster at 52 years of age during this time before he retired.

1999-present: Barangay Ginebra Kings

In 1999, the team was then officially called Barangay Ginebra Kings.

In the All-Filipino, Barangay Ginebra only managed to finish 8th in the eliminations, and needed to win twice against the first-seeded Mobiline Phone Pals of Asi Taulava. The David & Goliath elimination game. The Kings managed to force a knockout game, winning the first game. In the decider, Barangay Ginebra came back from a 20 point deficit and Bal David's off-balance game-winner resulted in one of the biggest upsets in league history to advance to the next round. Asi Taulava was even seen crying in disappointment after the game when he failed to stop the smaller but quicker Bal David. In the semis, they were eliminated by eventual champion Shell that was marred by a scuffle in Game One of the series.

In the 2000 off season, Marlou Aquino was traded to the Sta. Lucia Realtors in exchange for Jun Limpot. The trade was considered as one of the biggest transactions done in the PBA. Another standout of Ginebra, Noli Locsin, was later traded to Pop Cola during the Commissioner's Cup for the Vergel Meneses, but it still didn't help the Kings throughout the season. Allan Caidic replaced Rino Salazar as head coach.

Barangay Ginebra was eliminated early in the quarterfinals by Tanduay in the 2000 All-Filipino Cup, as well as the Commissioner's Cup. With Brian Green as import for the Governor's Cup, the Kings tried to repeat the same result of the 1999 All-Filipino against Mobiline. But this time though, the Phone Pals were able to beat Barangay Ginebra in the elimination game.

In 2001, Barangay Ginebra drafted Mark Caguioa, a virtual unknown in the Philippines basketball scene. Despite that, Caguioa showed brilliance during the All-Filipino, earning his current nickname The Spark. The Kings finished 5th in the eliminations and faced Purefoods, who had a twice-to-beat advantage, in the quarterfinals. In a repeat of events the past two years, the Kings were able to defeat the TJ Hotdogs twice, after an off-balanced game-winner by Ronald Magtulis, to enter the semifinals. The Kings faced Shell in the semifinals, and Barangay Ginebra upset the top-seeded Turbo Chargers in five games to meet sister team San Miguel in the finals. Barangay Ginebra trailed 0-2 but won the next two games to tie the series at 2-2. In the end though, the Beermen won the series in six games.

Ginebra's success in the All-Filipino were not duplicated in the Commissioner's and Governor's Cup as they were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

After the season, the Kings acquired Eric Menk from Tanduay to solidy their frontline for the 2002 season. Unfortunately, Menk was loaned to the Philippine team and the Kings struggled throughout the Governor's and Commissioner's Cups, once again failing to enter the semis. In the All-Filipino, Menk made his Ginebra debut but the team did not enter the quarterfinals.

Rommel Adducul finally made his PBA debut after his years with the Metropolitan Basketball Association. Barangay Ginebra selected the former San Sebastian College - Recoletos Stag as the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft. His addition though did not help Ginebra's fortune to change in the 29th season. In the All-Filipino cup, they were eliminated by eventual champions Talk 'N Text Phone Pals in the quarterfinals. They also failed to qualify for the Invitational tournament, after being eliminated by eventual champions Alaska Aces in the qualifying rounds. In the season ending Reinforced Conference, they were knocked out by then-sister team and eventual champions Coca-Cola Tigers in the quarterfinals.

2004-2005: Back-to-back titles

Before the 2004 PBA Fiesta Conference, Caidic was moved to the position of team manager and was replaced by former San Miguel assistant coach Siot Tanquingcen and they traded jun limpot and to purefoods for andy seigle and rodney santos. Tanquingcen gave more playing time to Jayjay Helterbrand.

On July 7, 2004, Barangay Ginebra ended a 7-year title drought when they defeated Red Bull Barako in a best of 5 finals, 3-1, capturing the transition 2004 Fiesta Conference. During that time, Torraye Braggs with the team. It was actually a miracle as the team was only seeded 7th after the classification rounds. In the elimination wildcard phase, they came back from a 21-point deficit to beat the Sta. Lucia Realtors. In the quarterfinal round, they had a 2-1 record, enough to make it to the semifinals. In the best of 3 semifinals, they eventually survived the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals in Game 3 on their way to the finals. The lowest seeded at 7th place in elimination round to capture the "Immortal Transition Tournament Trophy" of the PBA to move to new two-conference era per season. They are also known as the only "Wildcard Champion" [The lowest seeded (7th place in elimination round)ever to win the championship a PBA record].

On February 11, 2005, Barangay Ginebra proved that the last championship was not a fluke by winning the next conference, the 2004-2005 Philippine Cup, a conference without imports. They dethroned the defending champions Talk 'N Text Phone Pals, 4-2, in a controversial best of 7 Finals series. Game One was forfeited in favor of Ginebra when Phone Pals center Asi Taulava, who was ineligible to play, entered the game. His citizenship case was still on the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation. The Kings filed a protest prior to the start of game one. Barangay Ginebra carried the momentum and went on to win the championship. This was also the first time in franchise history that they won back-to-back championships.

2005-06: Ginebra-Red Bull playoff duel

The Kings' victory over Red Bull in the 2004 Fiesta Conference broke the flawless finals record of the Bulls. And it proved to be costly too, as Red Bull would go on to defeat Ginebra in the next 3 tournaments that would follow after the Kings' back-to-back championships, denying the Kings numerous chances to rewrite history.

In the 2004-05 Fiesta Conference, Barangay Ginebra had a chance to rewrite history by winning the last possible 3-conference championship grand slam. Unfortunately, obstacles such as import problems, injury to Jayjay Helterbrand and the suspension of future MVP Eric Menk due to citizenship issues, made the team struggle throughout the conference. They placed 9th of 10 teams in the conference after being swept by Red Bull Barako in the best of 3 wildcard phase of the playoffs. Red Bull Barako took 4th place after being defeated by eventual champions, and Ginebra's sister team, San Miguel Beermen.

In the 2005-2006 Fiesta Conference, Barangay Ginebra was seeded to the semifinals after winning the 2nd seed playoff against Red Bull Barako. Original import Sean Lampley was replaced in time for the playoffs, by former Auburn University standout Chris Porter, in order to strengthen Ginebra's quest to regain the Fiesta Conference title. But his addition was not enough to help the Kings reach the Finals.

They faced Red Bull Barako again in the semifinals, and eventually lost in the series, 4-3. But the Kings came back and tied the series, after being down 1-3. It was an emotional series, who were expecting for a repeat of the historic comeback made by the team during the 1991 First Conference.

After the series, Tanquincen apologized to the team's fans. It was also revealed that Mark Caguioa was playing hurt and had a hamstring injury throughout the series. Barangay Ginebra battled Air21 Express in the 3rd place game but lost. In that game, an lackluster Barangay Ginebra team played, which was believed to be still emotionally down from their game 7 defeat. Red Bull Barako eventually won the championship against the Purefoods Chunkee Giants in six games.

In the 2005-2006 Philippine Cup, Barangay Ginebra finished with a 7-9 record in the classification. Being defending champions, they were considered as favorites to win the tournament. Unfortunately, injuries haunted the team as players began to fall one by one. Standouts Eric Menk and Rommel Adducul and rotation players Rodney Santos and Andy Seigle all suffered injuries during the conference. The Kings made a gallant stand in the wildcard phase as reserves Mark Macapagal,Allan Salangsang,Manny Ramos and Ervin Sotto stars. Ginebra took the sixth and final spot in the quarterfinals after defeating Air21 on June 4 with a 118-114 overtime victory as Mark Caguioa recorded a career-high 45 points.

However, the Kings still fell short as they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Red Bull, 3-2. After Ginebra led 2-1 in the series, the Bulls clinched the series by defeating the Kings by more than 25 points in the last two games. The Bulls went on to survive the Beermen in 7 semis games, before being denied a grand slam themselves by the Giants.

2006-07 Season: Sister Act (Ginebra vs. San Miguel)

In the off season, the Kings were involved in the controversial three-way-team trade with Coca-Cola Tigers and Air21 Express. The first part of the trade saw the Express sending Ryan Bernardo and its 2007 and 2008 first-round draft picks to the Tigers for Rafi Reavis, Billy Mamaril and the rights to Rudy Hatfield. The second part sent Reavis, Mamaril and Hatfield's rights from the Express to the Kings for Kalani Ferreria, Aries Dimaunahan, Manny Ramos, and Ervin Sotto plus the Kings two second-round draft picks that year and a future first-round pick. The third part was voided by former Commissioner Noli Eala, which would have allowed the Express to regain its own 2007 and 2008 picks plus the Tigers' 2008 second round draft pick from Coke, in exchange for Ferreria and Ramos plus the second-round pick this year and the future first-round pick. Air21 and Coca-Cola submitted a revised version of that part of the trade and was approved by Eala.

Under the revised version, the Express will trade Manny Ramos and Kalani Ferreria plus two second-round picks acquired from San Miguel and Ginebra to the Tigers. The Tigers retained Air21's 2007 and 2008 first-round picks but traded away their 2008 and 2009 first-round picks.

The trade has been questioned by many within the league as a one-sided trade. It also speculated the rumors of Coca-Cola's possible disbandment from the league, which was denied in a statement released by the president of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.(CCBPI) and PBA board of governors for the Coca-Cola Tigers.

Also, the coaching staff underwent a revamp with Jong Uichico, from sister team San Miguel Beer, taking over coaching duties from Siot Tanquingcen. Tanquingcen demoted as assistant coach, along with Art Dela Cruz and Junno Sauler. Dela Cruz is also from San Miguel Beer, having served as assistant coach, while Sauler is a holdover from Tanquingcen's coaching staff. Uichico, Tanquincen, and Dela Cruz powered San Miguel Beer in their late-90s championship run and also helped win their 17th title.

As part of their preparations for the 2006-07 PBA season, the team competed in the 6th Shell Rimula Brunei Cup but failed to make it to the semis after losing close games. They started the PBA pre-season tournament with a 90-75 drubbling of Purefoods, [4] but failed to advance to the pre-season finals due to an poor 2-2 record.

Rudy Hatfield made a league comeback and he signed with Ginebra.

Johnny Abarrientos followed suit two weeks before the start of the season. he'll back-up starter jay-jay helterbrand.He is an tremendous addition to the Kings' re-tooled roster.
Ginebra prior to their game against the San Miguel Beermen at the Cuneta Astrodome.

In the season opener, the Kings defeated the expansion Welcoat Dragons 102-69 on October 1. Two victories over sister team Purefoods and Air21 gave Ginebra an 3-0 record before being defeated by Red Bull on October 15.

Rommel Adducul was later sent to the San Miguel Beermen as part of a three-team deal which involved Red Bull, a non-SMC club. [5] Ironically, the following game saw the two sister teams face off at the Cuneta Astrodome, in a game which the Beermen edged 101-97 in overtime, after the Beermen led by as much as 20 points during regulation. At the middle of the elimination round, they acquired the Ronald Tubid from the Air21 Express. [6] Midway through the elimination round, the team managers of the SMC teams were shuffled. Ginebra's team manager, Allan Caidic was replaced by Samboy Lim and Caidic was sent to the Coca-Cola Tigers. The Kings advanced to the semifinals as the first seed. [7] In the semifinals series against the Phone Pals, they won Game 5 when the series was tied 2-2, leading to the series clinching Game 6 win.

In the finals, Ginebra met San Miguel Beer and fell behind 0-2 in the series. They would win their next four games, with games 3 and 4 being blowouts, being the fifth PBA team to win the title after losing their first two games. Ginebra star Jayjay Helterbrand sank two crucial free throws of Game 6, was named Finals MVP. While on the other hand, Mark Caguioa, the big-time scorer, won the Best Player of the Conference award.

After they won the Philippine Cup Title, Caguioa, Helterbrand, and Menk were loaned to play for the Philippine National Team to compete in the FIBA-Asia Championship. They also lost Rudy Hatfield early in the first round due to personal problems, but their import Rod Nealy provided scoring for the Kings. Despite a depleted lineup, they still managed to finish 12-6 in 3rd seed of an outright quarterfinals berth. Due to the play of Egay Echavez,Mark Macapagal and Gec Chia who shines with the loss of Caguioa and Helterbrand, the Kings finished strong. In the quarterfinals, they faced the San Miguel Beermen again but ended the series differently. This time they took Game 1 with a 113-87 victory but San Miguel took Game 2 and won an overtime thriller 117-114 in Game 3, thwarting the Kings' chance to win a second pair of back-to-back titles.

2007-08 Season: Ginebra vs. Air21 showdown

In the off-season, the Kings made few adjustments to their roster by trading Mark Macapagal to Coca Cola for guard Chris Pacana and Gec Chia to Talk 'N Text for veteran Vic Pablo. They also boosted their backcourt by drafting Macky Escalona from Ateneo and acquiring Paul Artadi from Air 21 after being traded by Purefoods. They also added depth by getting Willy Wilson. Still, they lacked interior presence due to the loss of Hatfield and injuries to Rafi Reavis and Billy Mamaril. Despite having Helterbrand back in the lineup, they have yet returned to their competitive form because Caguioa got injured. They won the opening game against Red Bull but finished the eliminations 8-10. They ended up in the wildcard phase where they met Air21 and lose 119-110, ending its title defense.

After failing to defend their Philippine Cup crown, they signed Alex Crisano to supplement their front court and Rahshon Turner as their import for the 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference. Despite a different look, the Kings had a slow start losing their first five games with both Turner and Ernest Brown. To stop the losing streak, they replaced Brown with another recruit from the NBA Development League, Chris Alexander whose inside scoring and rebounding helped the Kings win 10 of their next 13 games in the eliminations. The Kings ended on a high note ending the eliminations 10-8 with an outright quarterfinals berth. They faced the Sta. Lucia Realtors in the quarterfinals and completed a 2-game sweep en route to another showdown against Red Bull. In the semis, which everyone predicted to be a 7-game showdown saw the Kings sweep the Barakos that included a 101-97 overtime victory in Game 4. So convincingly was the sweep that they shamed Red Bull all throughout the series. After the last game of the series, the Barakos went all the way to their locker room without congratulating Barangay Ginebra. This gave Ginebra its first series sweep in franchise history, and its 17th finals appearance. This also gave Jong Uichico his 12th finals appearance (2nd with the Kings) and the third sweep in league history since the 1992 Third Conference when Swift swept 7-Up in the finals. The Game 4 victory extended their winning streak dating back from the eliminations to 12 (the longest in franchise history).

In the finals, they met the Air21 Express who sought to win its first franchise title. At the opener, the Kings extended their winning streak to 13 with a 105-96 victory. But in Game 2, Jayjay Helterbrand injured his hamstring giving the momentum to the Express for a 124-90 rout, the worst loss of Uichico in his entire coaching career. As their injuries continued to pile up, they lost Game 3 and Helterbrand for the rest of the series. However, the Kings managed to tie the series with a 90-77 win in Game 4. Ronald Tubid also returned during Game 4 from a dislocated left ankle and lift Ginebra, but lost a close 76-73 in Game 5. In Game 6, the Kings proved that they were more worthy of the title by extending the series to a Game 7 with a 80-75 victory, thanks to Alexander's 37 points (20 in the 3rd quarter) to lift the Kings despite an injury plagued lineup. In game 7, with the injury suffered by Junthy Valenzuela (tendinitis) and Chris Alexander having cramps in the 3rd quarter, the locals led by Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk had a terrific performance to maintain the lead and seal the 97-84 victory, and won the series 4-3 to grab their 8th championship. With the victory, they surpassed Purefoods in titles won. Tubid and Menk was named as finals co-MVP. Jong Uichico also won his 8th PBA title as a coach and his 2nd with the Kings. A Record crowd of 22,902 witness Kings’ coronation, the biggest in Araneta Coliseum since the legendary Crispa-Toyota days.

2008-09: San Miguel-Ginebra II

During the off season, Ginebra decided to go on the free-agent market to finalize their roster instead of signing undrafted rookies. Due to their aging and injured frontcourt, Ginebra decided to fill their void at the forward position by signing the 6'6 former DLSU Archer Junjun Cabatu to a 2 year contract. They defeated defending Philippine Cup champions Sta. Lucia Realtors and the team that they defeated in the previous season's 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference Finals, the Air21 Express. After winning the first two games, Ginebra then went on a 5-game losing streak before moving on the winners bracket with a victory over the Coca-Cola Tigers. With a victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Christmas Day, they finished the eliminations with a 10-8 card, and an outright berth to the quarterfinals. Then they faced a familiar foe, their sister squad San Miguel. And in Game 1, they lost a one point thriller. Ginebra then exploded in game 2 even after losing an 18-point lead in the end game, they tied the series to one game a piece. In Game 3, the Kings were stream rolling with a 21 point lead only to lose the game and the series as the Beermen went on to face the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters in the semifinals.

In preparation for the 2009 PBA Fiesta Conference and to fill up their injury plagued lineup, they acquired Chico Lanete (who was acquired by Air21 from Purefoods), Doug Kramer, and J.C. Intal from the Air21 Express in exchange for their 2012 and 2013 draft picks. The Kings, though, lost big man Alex Crisano after deciding to let go of their center to Barako Bull Energy Boosters in exchange for a 2010 second round pick.

Ginebra's come backing import (2007 Fiesta Cup) Rod Nealy scored 42 points, 23 rebounds, 9 assists in his first game in the conference. After which, they fell to 2-5 before the Holy Week break and they sent Nealy home. While looking for the right import, they almost got one through former Los Angeles Clippers forward Ryan Humphrey but he exceeded the height limit of 6'6 (he was listed 6'. After the break, they came back strong with a win over Rain or Shine 94-89 despite an All Filipino lineup. To beef up their lineup, they acquired Cyrus Baguio and Homer Se from the Burger King Whoppers in a 3 way trade including Purefoods. After weeks of trying to find an import, they finally signed former Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers swingman David Noel who was listed as 6'5" to further boost their depth as they try go deeper in the eliminations. Noel made an impressive debut with a triple double (22 pts, 17 rebs, 10 assts) in a 100-94 win over Burger King. Noel also displayed his athleticism by showing his high-flying skills in the 2009 PBA Slam Dunk Contest besting co-imports Gabe Freeman and Anthony Johnson to win the Imports category and Gabe Norwood to win it overall joining Paul Artadi who won the Obstacle Challenge earlier as the Kings won two of the three events. His dunks included a Michael Jordan rock the cradle dunk, a tossed windmill, and a backflip then 360 dunk that gave him a perfect 100 from the judges including US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, and due to the fans request, he did a familiar Julius Erving foul line takeoff to cap the contest. In the main event of the evening which is the All-star Game between the Powerade Team Pilipinas and the Import laced PBA All-stars, Noel again won the All-star game MVP as the All-stars defeated the Nationals 97-89.

As of this moment, the Kings are 8-1 with Noel as their import and they clinched the an semifinal berth in the Conference along with the San Miguel Beermen as they pounded the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 114-71.

The Kings were without high-scoring Mark Caguioa who was still recuperating from an injury in the United States. Caguioa, one of the prolific scorers in the PBA, did not play in the previous conference and his absence hurt the team’s campaign. Junthy Valenzuela is also on the injured list.

2009–10

Willie Miller was traded to Ginebra in exchange of Cyrus Baguio.

In preparation for the 35th season, Ginebra was included in a three-way trade with Burger King and Purefoods. They sent Paul Artadi, Rafi Reavis, and 8th draft pick Chris Timberlake to Purefoods for Enrico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez, Paolo Bugia, and Celino Cruz. They also traded their eighteenth draft pick Orlando Daroya to Burger King for Pocholo Villanueva, but Villanueva never made it to the team.[1] Meanwhile, they released guard Macky Escalona, and forward J.R. Aquino to free-agency and waived center Homer Se. They also released guard Chris Pacana, who was later signed by the Sta. Lucia Realtors[citation needed] and placed forward Junjun Cabatu to the practice player list. On other reports, Ginebra coach Jong Uichico confirmed that they signed Eric Menk to a one-year contract extension for the Kings. Ginebra then released guard Chico Lanete and was later signed by the Burger King Whoppers. Prior to this release, they signed Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 18th overall pick Kevin White to a one-year deal.

In the Fiesta Conference, Rudy Hatfield came back to the country and signed a one-year contract with Ginebra. During the mid-conference, Ginebra acquired Yancy de Ocampo and a 2010 second-round draft pick from the Burger King Whoppers in exchange for Rich Alvarez and Doug Kramer and acquired the former Metropolitan Basketball Association MVP, John Ferriols, who was officially became an unrestricted free agent after being on the reserved list by the Alaska Aces. Due to lack of impressive point guards in their line-up, they traded high-flying Cyrus Baguio to the Alaska Aces and got the two-time MVP Willie Miller. Ginebra also traded Billy Mamaril to Air21 Express for Mike Cortez in the latter part of the conference.

The Kings' first import was Awvee Storey but he was then replaced by Mildon Ambres because of his inconsistencies. Ambres' performance was also not far from Storey's output; the team again made an import change. Denham Brown, a Seattle SuperSonics draftee, and a standout from the NBDL squad Iowa Energy, also struggled in five games when he played for the team during the last round of the eliminations.

Ginebra looked for winning combinations with the new players in their lineup. But, they still failed to secure a playoff berth for the semifinals. Being tied with the Elasto Painters, they played for one-game playoff for the last quarterfinals berth. The result was, the Kings defeated Rain or Shine, 115-88, in the lopsided win. Barangay Ginebra then renewed its historic battle with fourth-seeded Alaska Aces in the quarterfinals. This was a rematch between the two teams that tangled in the semifinals of the 2009 Philippine Cup. Alaska took a 2-0 lead. Diamon Simpson powered his way to a 20-20 game in the first game and Barangay Ginebra as the Aces topped the Kings, 76-72, in the opener of this quarterfinals. In game 2 Alaska showed poise at crunch time. The Aces came up with big plays down the stretch while the Kings could not, enabling the Aces to escape with an 84-82 win. Simpson capped a 30-point game with his 17th rebound that sealed the game just before the final buzzer. Eric Menk and import Chris Daniels provided scoring but their backcourt were again invisible, with Mark Caguioa, Willie Miller, Mike Cortez, and Jayjay Helterbrand struggling in the game. In game 3 Ginebra came with a breakthrough win that fanned the hopes of the team. Not one but several Kings heeded the call and resulted in a 91-87 win over the Alaska Aces that kept the Kings' hope for the quarterfinals series. JC Intal, who came off the bench exploded for 20 points, delivering what Mark Caguioa and Wille Mller could not while providing both inspiration and boost to the team’s cause of eluding Alaska’s broom. The Kings forced a rubber match when they got balanced scoring from their roster with a 94-90 win over Alaska in Game 4. JC Intal and Ronald Tubid hit consecutive three-pointers in the final three minutes while Sunday Salvacion came through with the game-sealing free throws with 2.6 seconds left in Game 4. Ginebra failed to win the quarterfinal series with a heartbreaking 91-93 loss with Aces. In game 5, Tenorio drilled a difficult triple at the buzzer which seemed enough to propel the Aces to a victory and erected a six-point lead, 90-84, with just 2:15 left in the match. Willie Miller scored on a layup off a broken play as Ginebra cut the Alaska lead to four 90-86 with 1:27 to go in the game. Miller then followed up a missed layup by his teammate to push Ginebra even closer, 90-88, with 31 seconds left. Eric Menk then intercepted a long pass by Simpson, grabbing the ball at midcourt then zipped the ball over to an open Jayjay Helterbrand who drilled a three-pointer as the Kings pulled ahead of Alaska, 90-91, with 28 seconds left. But Ginebra, unable to pull a tough defensive play, when Diamon Simpson scored from underneath to push Alaska ahead for good, 92-91, with just 5 seconds left to play. Cyrus Baguio then double-teamed an attacking Eric Menk and stole the ball from Menk that finalized the score on a split from the line, 93-91.

2010-11

Two-time Most Valuable Player Willie Miller signed a two-year contract with the Kings. Billy Mamaril then returned to Ginebra after a stint with Air21 in exchange for a future draft pick.

Three-time champion coach Siot Tanquingcen, rejoined the coaching staff of the Kings.

To start building its future, with 11 players who were age 30 and over, Ginebra picked 3 rookies. They drafted 2009 NCAA season MVP John Wilson from Jose Rizal University and 2009 NCAA Finals MVP Jimbo Aquino from San Sebastian College in the first round and University of the East's Robert Labagala in the second round of the 2010 PBA Draft. They also released Paolo Bugia, John Ferriols, Kevin White and Junjun Cabatu and traded Sunday Salvacion to the Barako Bull Energy Boosters for a future first round draft pick. They signed its 3 rookies after a week, giving the Kings a mixture of youth and experienced backcourt. Wilson and Aquino were given similar two-year contracts worth P5.7 million, while Labagala got a one-year deal worth P800,000 thousand.

Controversies

* Jaworski and Fernandez, two former Toyota teammates, engaged in a feud in 1984. Apparently, Toyota's players were sold to new team Beer Hausen. Jaworski, in defiance, refused to play for Beer Hausen and joined Ginebra. The franchise sell out was the final straw in the 2 year silent feud of Jaworski and Fernandez within Toyota. It finally exploded into a war between the two. However, in the 1989 All-Star Game, Jaworski and Fernandez were teammates for the Veterans. In the final seconds, with the game tied, Jaworski's pass to Fernandez led to the Veterans escaping a 132-130 win against the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors team in the inaugural All-Star Game. Afterwards, Jaworski and Fernadez shook hands to the delight of the capacity crowd at the Philsports Arena, which signalled the reconcillation between the two legends.
* On May 15, 1990, Shell defeated Añejo Rhum 4-2 to win the 1990 PBA 1st Conference title. However, it sparked a controversy in the sixth and final game of the series when the whole Añejo team walked out with still 2:52 left in the fourth quarter in favor of the Zoom Masters. Back-to-back technical fouls were slapped by referee Rudy Hines on Rey Cuenco led to the walkout. Coach Robert Jaworski and team manager Ber Navarro refused to return back to the court, which resulted in the forfeiture of the game, and the championship to Shell. Two days later, the league fined Añejo a whopping 550,000 pesos, the biggest in league history. It was the second time that a forfeiture happened in a PBA Finals series since Crispa in Game four of the 1975 series against rival Toyota.
* Robert Jaworski resigned as player-coach of the team after the 1998 season due to misunderstandings with the management of San Miguel Corporation. It is claimed that the former Philippines senator was frustrated over the team`s acquisition of Allan Caidic as an player-assistant coach from San Miguel without first getting input from jaworski.
* On May 17, 1999, a bench-clearing brawl ensued during Game two of the All-Filipino Cup semi-finals series against Formula Shell. A total of 235,000 pesos was slapped on 16 players and one official from both teams. Shell's Jay Mendoza was fined 40,000 pesos, while Ginebra players Noli Locsin, Elmer Lago, Cris Bolado and Boy Valera were fined 20,000 each.
* In the 2005 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Barangay Ginebra was awarded the winner of the first game of the series, after Finals opponent Talk 'N Text Phone Pals fielded the suspended Asi Taulava. With documents of his Filipino blood still questionable, the Phone Pals used the 6-9 center in their victory. The Kings filed a protest prior to the start of the game. Two days later, then-PBA Commissioner Noli Eala announced the forfeiture of Talk 'N Text's Game One win.

In popular culture

* Gary Granada, a well-known composer and singer in the Philippines, composed numerous songs about the Kings; "Ginebrang Ginebra", "Kapag Nananalo ang Ginebra" (When Ginebra Wins) sung by Bayang Barrios, Kapag Natatalo ang Ginebra (When Ginebra Loses), sung by himself. The latest was "Yan ang Aming Barangay" right after the 2007 Philippine Cup championship.