1999 Tanduay Rhum Masters season

The 1999 Tanduay Gold Rhum Masters season was the first season of the new franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

League return

A multi-titled team in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), having won several championships since it resurfaced in 1995, the Tanduay Gold Rhum Masters, now owned by Tanduay Distillers, Inc., makes a grand return to the PBA after a 12-year absence.

Off-season transactions

Tanduay was allowed to elevate six players from their farm team in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) namely; Eric Menk, Mark Telan, Chris Cantonjos, Jomer Rubi, Alvin Magpantay and Derrick Bughao. The Rhum Masters also added Bobby Jose, a PBA returnee who played for Tanduay in the PBL the past two seasons. Two more players from their farm team; Rene Alforque and Jorge Gallent soon join them in the pro ranks.

Summary

All-Filipino Cup: The Tanduay Rhum Masters will be handled by their winning PBL coach Alfrancis Chua. The Rhum Masters lost their first two games of the season, on opening day on February 7 to Mobiline, 64-90, and against San Miguel, 79-89 on February 14. Tanduay pick up their first win over Barangay Ginebra, a 94-85 overtime victory on February 19. In their next game against Sta.Lucia in Bustos, Bulacan on February 24, rookie Sonny Alvarado registered a conference-high early with 46 points in a 94-78 Tanduay win over the Realtors. The Rhum Masters split their eight games in the first round of eliminations with two other victories coming against Purefoods and Shell. ^{[1] [2]}

Seeded second after the eliminations and tied with Alaska and Shell with nine wins and seven losses. The Rhum Masters advances in the best-of-five semifinal series by eliminating Pop Cola and went on to play the defending champions Alaska Milkmen. The Rhum Masters took a commanding 2-0 lead and while the Milkmen bounced back with a victory in Game three, Sonny Alvarado poured in 32 points in Game four as Tanduay makes it to the All-Filipino Cup finals series with a 111-93 victory. In the championship series against the Benjie Paras led-Formula Shell, the Rhum Masters were on a verge of achieving a cinderella finish but the Shell Zoom Masters, after losing Game one, took four of the next five games of the series to win the All-Filipino Cup title as Tanduay had to settle for runner-up honors.

Commissioner's Cup: Nigerian import Ime Uduok played one game before being replaced by Ira Clark. ^[3] Tanduay had a 5-0 win-loss start ^[4] but dropped their last three games in the eliminations and slide down to fifth place in a twice-to-beat disadvantage. The Rhum Masters were eliminated by the San Miguel Beermen in the quarterfinals.

Governors Cup: Tanduay brought in Ronnie Fields as their import in the third conference. The Rhum Masters were tied with Purefoods on top of the standings with a 7-1 won-loss slate. They advanced into the best-of-five semifinal series and were swept in three games by the San Miguel Beermen. The Rhum Masters placed third in the season-ending conference.

Occurrences

On March 8, The living legend of Philippine Basketball, Senator Robert Jaworski on his 53rd birthday, formally joined the Tanduay ballclub as Team Consultant and Chief Endorser/Spokesman of their liquor product in a press conference held at the Century Park Hotel, there were speculations that Jaworski might appear in one game for Tanduay and play one last time in the PBA. ^[5]

Roster

Pos. No. Player School G 1 Jason Webb De La Salle G 2 Jorge Gallent Far Eastern University G 7 Jomer Rubi UPHSD F 11 Bobby Jose University of Santo Tomas F 12 Alvin Magpantay De La Salle C 13 Mark Telan De La Salle F 15 Sonny Alvarado University of Texas-Austin G 16 Derrick Bughao University of Visayas G 18 Rene Alforque University of Visayas G 22 Jaime Gayoso Ateneo de Manila G 25 Pido Jarencio University of Santo Tomas C 30 Eric Menk Lake Superior State University C 33 Chris Cantonjos University of Santo Tomas F Ime Uduok (C) F Ira Clark (C) University of Texas G 20 Ronnie Fields (G) Farragut Academy Position Name/s Head coach:  Alfrancis Chua Assistants: Angelito Esguerra (C) - Commissioners Cup Import, (G) - Governors Cup Import, '

^{Team Manager: David de Joya}

References