1988 PBA Reinforced Conference finals

{{Infobox PBA conference finals | image= | year = 1988 | conference = Reinforced Conference | champion = '''[[San Miguel Beermen]]''' | champion_coach = [[Norman Black]] | champion_games = 4 | runnerup = [[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell Rimula X Oilers]] | runnerup_coach = [[Dante Silverio]] | runnerup_games = 1 | date= December 4–13, 1988 | MVP = | television = [[PBA on Vintage Sports|Vintage Sports]] ([[People's Television Network|PTV]]) | announcers = | radio_network = [[DZSR]] | radio_announcers = | referees_1 = G. Ledesma, D. Bayais, E. de Leon | referees_2 = G. Ledesma, A. Bartolome, R. Hines | referees_3 = | referees_4 = | referees_5 = G. Ledesma, A. Bartolome, E. de Leon | prev_year = [[1987 PBA Reinforced Conference finals|1987]] | next_year = [[1989 PBA Reinforced Conference finals|1989]] }}

The '''1988 PBA Reinforced Conference finals''' was the [[Best-of-seven playoff|best-of-7 series]] basketball championship of the [[1988 PBA Reinforced Conference]], and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The [[San Miguel Beermen]] and [[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell Rimula X Diesel Oilers]] played for the 41st championship contested by the league.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3WwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5477%2C641590|title=Shell uncaps glory bid|work=Manila Standard}}</ref>

The [[San Miguel Beermen]] easily retains the Reinforced Conference title with a 4–1 series victory over [[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell Rimula X Diesel Oilers]] and claim their 5th PBA crown.

==Qualification== {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" |- align=center ! colspan="2" style="width:45%;"|[[San Miguel Beermen|San Miguel]]!! colspan="2" style="width:45%;"|[[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell]] |- align=center |Finished 7–3 (.700), tied for 1st ||colspan=2|'''Eliminations'''||Finished 5–5 (.500), tied for 2nd |- align=center |Finished 13–5 (.722), 1st ||colspan=2|'''Semifinals'''||Finished 11–7 (.611), 2nd |}

==Series scoring summary== {| border="1" cellspacing="0" style="width:525px; margin:auto;" |- style="text-align:center; background:#e6e6e6;" ! style="text-align:center; width:30%;"|Team !width=8%|Game 1 !width=8%|Game 2 !width=8%|Game 3 !width=8%|Game 4 !width=8%|Game 5 !width=8%|Wins |- style="text-align:center;" |align=left|San Miguel | '''134''' || '''119''' || 126 || '''144''' || '''151''' || '''4''' |- style="text-align:center;" |align=left|Shell | 111 || 111 || '''137''' || 119 || 142 || '''1''' |- style="text-align:center; font-size:85%; background:#e6e6e6;" |align=left|Venue |[[PhilSports Arena|ULTRA]]||[[PhilSports Arena|ULTRA]]||[[PhilSports Arena|ULTRA]]||[[PhilSports Arena|ULTRA]]||[[PhilSports Arena|ULTRA]]|| |}

==Games summary==

===Game 1=== {{basketballbox|bg=#eee |date=December 4 |time=6:20 pm |place=[[PhilSports Arena|The ULTRA]], [[Pasig]], [[Metro Manila]] |TV=[[PBA on Vintage Sports|Vintage]] |referee=G. Ledesma, D. Bayais, E. de Leon |team1='''[[San Miguel Beermen]] |score1=134''' |team2=[[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell Rimula X]] |score2=111 |Q1=30–27 |Q2=25–33 |Q3=30–27 |Q4=49–24 |points1=[[Norman Black]] 39 [[Mike Phelps|Michael Phelps]] 39 |points2=[[Derrick Rowland]] 42 |series= San Miguel leads series, 1–0 }} Shell battled defending champion San Miguel for most of the first three quarters before falling apart in the fourth, enabling the Beermen to win by a rout, the key factor in the opening game was the explosive performance of Franz Pumaren, who came off the bench because of the foul trouble of Hector Calma going into the final quarter.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3mwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5110%2C843123|title=SMB runs down Shell|work=Manila Standard}}</ref>

===Game 2=== {{basketballbox|bg=#eee |date=December 6 |time=7:20 pm |place=[[PhilSports Arena|The ULTRA]], [[Pasig]], [[Metro Manila]] |TV=[[PBA on Vintage Sports|Vintage]] |referee=G. Ledesma, A. Bartolome, R. Hines |team1='''[[San Miguel Beermen]] |score1=119''' |team2=[[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell Rimula X]] |score2=111 |Q1=31–26 |Q2=32–31 |Q3=25–27 |Q4=31–27 |points1=[[Mike Phelps|Michael Phelps]] 39 |points2= [[Derrick Rowland]] 36 |series= San Miguel leads series, 2–0 }} An 11–1 burst by the Beermen in the final two minutes gave them a 2–0 edge in the series, a rash of errors by Shell in the last 1:25 caused their downfall, after battling San Miguel to 11 deadlocks, lose steam in the homestretch and failed to keep their composure by taking a couple of bad shots.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4GwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5463%2C1138077|title=Phelps delivers key blows as Beermen take 2–0 lead|work=Manila Standard}}</ref>

===Game 3=== {{basketballbox|bg=#eee |date=December 8 |time=7:20 pm |place=[[PhilSports Arena|The ULTRA]], [[Pasig]], [[Metro Manila]] |TV=[[PBA on Vintage Sports|Vintage]] |referee= |team1=[[San Miguel Beermen]] |score1=126 |team2='''[[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell Rimula X]] |score2=137''' |Q1=20–30 |Q2=33–37 |Q3=46–32 |Q4=27–38 |points1=[[Norman Black]] 39 [[Samboy Lim]] 28 |points2= [[Derrick Rowland]] 38 [[Bobby Parks]] 37 |series= San Miguel leads series, 2–1 }} Shell raced to an early 17-point lead and with the score at 73–61 in favor of the Diesel Oilers, Jay Ramirez suffered a nasty fall when he pulled down Samboy Lim who landed on top of Ramirez as the rookie banged the back of his head against the hardcourt and had to be carried out on a stretcher. Just when Shell looked sure of a victory, Samboy Lim cut loose to rally the Beermen back and tied the count at 99-all at the end of the third quarter. San Miguel import Michael Phelps fouled out trying to stop Derrick Rowland with Shell on top, 115–111.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4WwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4425%2C1430813|title=Shell comes alive|work=Manila Standard}}</ref>

===Game 4=== {{basketballbox|bg=#eee |date=December 11 |time=6:20 pm |place=[[PhilSports Arena|The ULTRA]], [[Pasig]], [[Metro Manila]] |TV=[[PBA on Vintage Sports|Vintage]] |referee= |team1='''[[San Miguel Beermen]] |score1=144''' |team2=[[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell Rimula X]] |score2=119 |Q1=36–26 |Q2=32–34 |Q3=32–25 |Q4=44–34 |points1=[[Norman Black]] 41 |points2= [[Bobby Parks]] 36 |series= San Miguel leads series, 3–1 }} San Miguel established a big lead early, the third quarter saw Shell mount an uprising that brought them within a couple of baskets of the Beermen until Samboy Lim, who had been fantastic throughout the series, engineered a counter-rally that gave them a dominating 100–85 lead going into the last 12 minutes. Rookie Jay Ramirez was slapped off a deliberate foul on Samboy Lim with some 43 seconds remaining in the game when Samboy apparently got hit on the teeth by Jay's elbow, causing him to bleed in the mouth.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5GwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3939%2C1865581|title=San Miguel now up, 3–1|work=Manila Standard}}</ref>

===Game 5=== {{basketballbox|bg=#eee |date=December 13 |time=6:30 pm |place=[[PhilSports Arena|The ULTRA]], [[Pasig]], [[Metro Manila]] |TV=[[PBA on Vintage Sports|Vintage]] |referee=G. Ledesma, A. Bartolome, E. de Leon |team1='''[[San Miguel Beermen]] |score1=151''' |team2=[[Shell Turbo Chargers|Shell Rimula X]] |score2=142 |Q1=30–33 |Q2=34–37 |Q3=41–29 |Q4=46–43 |points1=[[Norman Black]] 42 |points2= [[Bobby Parks]] 56 [[Derrick Rowland]] 42 |series= San Miguel wins series, 4–1 }} Shell took the first two quarters until Samboy Lim once more led his team to a double-digit margin from a 64–70 halftime deficit to a 105–99 San Miguel advantage at the end of the third period. Shell coach Dante Silverio, visibly upset over the poor officiating, was irked when confetti rained down on Shell's frontcourt with 1:11 left to play, the Beermen on top, 145–134. There were only 36 seconds before the final buzzer and the score, 147–138 for San Miguel, when Silverio summoned his players to walk out and immediately leave the playing arena and go back to their locker room, PBA Vice Chairman Jose Ibazeta, who was seated on the San Miguel bench, went to Silverio and tried to convince him to return to the court and apologized for what happened; after some prodding, Silverio acceded to their request of coming back to finish the game, the clock was set back to 1:11 and the count at 145–134 for San Miguel, the Oilers went back with coach Dante Silverio leading the way.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5WwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4308%2C2150697|title=Another title for San Miguel|work=Manila Standard}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center; margin:auto" |- !1988 PBA Reinforced Conference Champions |- |<br /> '''[[San Miguel Beermen]]''' <br /> '''Fifth title''' |}

==Awards== *Sports Columnist Organization of the Philippines (SCOOP) Finals Most Outstanding local player: [[Samboy Lim]] ( Average 22.2 pts, 4.4 rebs, 2.8 assists in the finals series) *Sports Columnist Organization of the Philippines (SCOOP) Finals Most Outstanding import: [[Norman Black]]

==Rosters== {{basketball roster header|age=n |team=San Miguel Beermen | bg1 = #b50000 | color1 = white | bg2 = #b50000 | color2 = white }}   {{player2 | num = 4 | first = Elmer | last = Reyes |dab=basketball| pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 1 | lbs = | college = San Beda | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 5 | first = Franz | last = Pumaren | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 9 | lbs = | college = De La Salle | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 7 | first = Alfie | last = Almario | pos = G | ft = 6 | in = 0 | lbs = | college = De La Salle | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 9 | first = Samboy | last = Lim | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 0 | lbs = | college = Letran | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 10 | first = Alvin | last = Teng | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = | college = Arellano | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 11 | first = Tonichi | last = Yturri | pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 5 | lbs = | college = De La Salle | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 12 | first = Yves | last = Dignadice | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = | college = STI WNU | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 14 | first = Hector | last = Calma | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 9 | lbs = | college = Adamson | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 15 | first = Ricardo | last = Cui | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = | college = Lyceum | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 17 | first = Jeffrey | last = Graves |dab=basketball| pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = | college = Angeles | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 19 | first = Ramon | last = Fernandez | pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = | college = San Carlos | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 24 | first = Norman | last = Black | pos = FC | ft = 6 | in = 5 | lbs = | college = Saint Joseph's | nat = USA | note = I }} {{player2 | num = 25 | first = Michael | last = Phelps |link=Mike Phelps| pos = GF | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = | college = Alcorn State | nat = USA | note = I }}  {{basketball roster footer | head_coach = *{{player||USA|[[Norman Black]]}} | asst_coach = *{{player||PHI|[[Derrick Pumaren]]}} |otherlegend= (I) Import

}}

{{basketball roster header|age=n |team=Shell Rimula X | bg1 = #B50000 | color1 = #FDD501 | bg2 = #fdd501 | color2 = black }}   {{player2 | num = 1 | first = Manny | last = Victorino | pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 5 | lbs = | college = JRU | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 2 | first = Jay | last = Ramirez |dab=basketball | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 2 | lbs = | college = Visayas | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 3 | first = Edgardo | last = Cordero | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = | college = UST | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 5 | first = Ronnie | last = Magsanoc | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 9 | lbs = | college = UP Diliman | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 7 | first = Ramon | last = Dela Cruz | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 11 | lbs = | college = Philippine Christian University | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 9 | first = Rey | last = Cuenco | pos = FC | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = | college = De La Salle Araneta | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 10 | first = Romeo | last = Ang | pos = G | ft = 6 | in = 1 | lbs = | college = Letran | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 11 | first = Jaime | last = Manansala | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 11 | lbs = | college = UE | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 12 | first = Victor | last = Sanchez |dab=basketball | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 2 | lbs = | college = Mapua | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 13 | first = Leo | last = Austria | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 10 | lbs = | college = Lyceum | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 14 | first = Leopoldo | last = Herrera | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 2 | lbs = | college = Wesleyan University Philippines | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 16 | first = Angelito | last = Esguerra | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 1 | lbs = | college = Letran | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 19 | first = Freddie | last = Hubalde | pos = GF | ft = 6 | in = 1 | lbs = | college = Mapua | nat = PHI }} {{player2 | num = 22 | first = Bobby | last = Parks | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = | college = Memphis State | nat = USA | note = I }} {{player2 | num = 44 | first = Derrick | last = Rowland | pos = FC | ft = 6 | in = 5 | lbs = | college = Potsdam State | nat = USA | note = I }}  {{basketball roster footer | head_coach = *{{player||PHI|[[Dante Silverio]]}} | asst_coach = *{{player||PHI|[[Arlene Rodriguez]]}} |otherlegend= (I) Import

}}

==Broadcast notes== {|class=wikitable |- !Game !! [[Play-by-play]] !! [[Color commentator|Analyst]] |- |Game 1 || || |- |Game 2 || || |- |Game 3 || || |- |Game 4 || [[Joe Cantada]] || [[Quinito Henson]] |- |Game 5 || [[Sev Sarmenta]] || [[Andy Jao]] |}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinforced Conference Finals 1988}} [[Category:PBA Reinforced Conference finals|1988]] [[Category:1988 PBA season]] [[Category:San Miguel Beermen games]] [[Category:Shell Turbo Chargers games]] [[Category:December 1988 sports events in Asia|PBA Reinforced Conference Finals]]