1995 PBA season

1995 PBA season
1995 PBA season
Duration	February 19 – December 19, 1995
Number of teams	8
TV partner(s)	Vintage Sports (PTV)
1995 PBA Draft
Top draft pick	Dennis Espino
Picked by	Sta. Lucia Realtors
Season MVP	Vergel Meneses; (Sunkist Orange Juicers)
All-Filipino Cup champions	Sunkist Orange Juicers
All-Filipino Cup runners-up	Alaska Milkmen
Commissioner's Cup champions	Sunkist Orange Juicers
Commissioner's Cup runners-up	Alaska Milkmen
Governors Cup champions	Alaska Milkmen
Governors Cup runners-up	San Miguel Beermen
Seasons
	← 1994 1996 →

The 1995 PBA season was the 21st season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Season highlights

Ramon Fernandez, one of the remaining pioneer players in the league announced his retirement on February 17. His #19 jersey was retired by the San Miguel Beermen in a ceremony held at the San Miguel Corporation offices in Mandaluyong.^[1]
The league returned to the Araneta Coliseum after a decade of absence with the scheduled games on Friday being held at the Big Dome.
The PBA All-star game returned to its old format of Veterans vs Rookies/Sophomores/Juniors team, also the All-Star event was moved in the month of July with the first-ever PBA fans day held at the Araneta Coliseum a week before the annual all-star game.^[2]
A mid-1990s rivalry was born between the Sunkist Orange Juicers and the Alaska Milkmen, the two teams battled in two memorable finals for the season. The Orange Juicers had won the first two conferences but failed in its bid to win the Grandslam with the Alaska Milkmen taking home the Third Conference trophy.
Vergel Meneses of Sunkist was the season's best, winning the prestigious MVP Award as well as the All-Star MVP and Best Player of the Conference in the Juicers' two straight championships.^[3]

Rule changes

The PBA board approved the rule changes for implementation starting this season:^[4]

The shot clock was reduced to 24 seconds from the previous 25 second limit. The 25 second shot clock was implemented since the league started in 1975 due to a limitation of the shot clock used at the Araneta Coliseum where it can only be set in 5 second intervals.
The first two minutes of each quarter will be played in "running time". The clock will only be stopped on fouls and violations.
Teams will now have six 90-second regular timeouts and one 20-second timeout for the eliminations and semifinals.
Substitutions during free throw situations are only allowed before the last free throw attempt.
Foul shooters are allowed to shoot their first free throw even if the other players are not yet in position in the lines bordering the painted area.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Team	Muse
Alaska Milkmen	Tet Legacion
Ginebra San Miguel	Charlene Gonzales
Pepsi Mega Bottlers	Anna Gonzales
Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	Roselle Nava
San Miguel Beermen	Shiela Lang and Gil Baltazar
Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers	Cesca La'O
Sta. Lucia Realtors	Sheila Marie Dizon (Ms.Tourism)
Sunkist Orange Juicers	Sheryl Cruz

Champions

All-Filipino Cup: Sunkist Orange Juicers
Commissioner's Cup: Sunkist Orange Juicers
Governor's Cup: Alaska Milkmen
Team with best win–loss percentage: Sunkist Orange Juicers (49–23, .681)
Best Team of the Year: Sunkist Orange Juicers (1st & Final)

All-Filipino Cup

Elimination round

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Sunkist Orange Juicers	7	3	.700	—	Semifinal round
2	Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers	6	4	.600	1
3	Alaska Milkmen	5	5	.500	2
4	Sta. Lucia Realtors	5	5	.500	2
5	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	5	5	.500	2
6	San Miguel Beermen	4	6	.400	3
7	Pepsi Mega Bottlers	4	6	.400	3
8	Ginebra San Miguel	4	6	.400	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Semifinal round

Cumulative standings

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Sunkist Orange Juicers	13	5	.722	—	Advance to the finals^[a]
2	Alaska Milkmen	10	8	.556^[b]	3	Guaranteed finals berth playoff
3	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	10	8	.556^[b]	3	Qualify to finals berth playoff
4	Sta. Lucia Realtors	9	9	.500	4	Proceed to third-place playoffs
5	Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers	6	12	.333	7

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ If a team outside the top two teams wins at least five semifinal round games, then it and the second-placed team will playoff for the last finals berth; otherwise, the top 2 teams qualify outright.
^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: Alaska 2–1 Purefoods

Semifinal round standings:

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	Qualification
1	Sunkist Orange Juicers	6	2
2	Alaska Milkmen	5	3
3	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	5	3	Qualify to finals berth playoff^[a]
4	Sta. Lucia Realtors	4	4
5	Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers	0	8

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Sunkist advanced to the finals as #1 seeded team, Alaska qualified to the finals berth playoff as #2 seeded team; finals berth playoff: Alaska 115–89 Purefoods

Third-place playoffs

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
(3) Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	0–2	(4) Sta. Lucia Realtors	89–90	87–89	—

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
(1) Sunkist Orange Juicers	4–3	(2) Alaska Milkmen	104–110	92–85	98–92	88–94	95–90	86–92	87–78 (OT)

Best Player of the Conference: Vergel Meneses (Sunkist)

Commissioner's Cup

Elimination round

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Sunkist Orange Juicers	9	1	.900	—	Quarterfinal round
2	Sta. Lucia Realtors	8	2	.800	1
3	Alaska Milkmen	7	3	.700	2
4	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	6	4	.600	3
5	San Miguel Beermen	6	4	.600	3
6	Formula Shell Gas Kings	2	8	.200	7
7	Pepsi Mega Bottlers	1	9	.100	8
8	Ginebra San Miguel	1	9	.100	8

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Quarterfinal round

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Sunkist Orange Juicers	12	3	.800	—	Semifinals
2	Sta. Lucia Realtors	10	5	.667^[a]	2
3	Alaska Milkmen	10	5	.667^[a]	2
4	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	9	6	.600	3
5	San Miguel Beermen	8	7	.533	4
6	Formula Shell Gas Kings	4	11	.267	8

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: Sta. Lucia 3–0 Alaska

Playoffs

Semifinals (Best-of-5)			Finals (Best-of-7)

1	Sunkist	3

4	Purefoods	2
			1	Sunkist	4

			3	Alaska	2
2	Sta. Lucia	0

3	Alaska	3	Third-place playoff


			4	Purefoods	0

			2	Sta. Lucia	2

Third place playoffs

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
(2) Sta. Lucia Realtors	2–0	(4) Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	99–88	101–89	—

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
(1) Sunkist Orange Juicers	4–2	(3) Alaska Milkmen	112–106 (OT)	99–105	99–87	95–93	93–114	106–87	⁠—

Best Player of the Conference: Vergel Meneses (Sunkist)
Best Import of the Conference: Ronnie Grandison (Sunkist)

Governors' Cup

Elimination round

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Sunkist Orange Juicers	8	2	.800	—	Semifinal round
2	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	7	3	.700	1
3	Alaska Milkmen	7	3	.700	1
4	San Miguel Beermen	6	4	.600	2
5	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	6	4	.600	2
6	Sta. Lucia Realtors	4	6	.400	4
7	Pepsi Mega Bottlers	2	8	.200	6
8	Ginebra San Miguel	0	10	.000	8

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Semifinal round

Cumulative standings

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Alaska Milkmen	13	5	.722	—	Advance to the Finals
2	San Miguel Beermen	12	6	.667	1	Advance to the Finals
3	Sunkist Orange Juicers	11	7	.611	2	Proceed to third-place playoffs
4	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	9	9	.500^[a]	4	Proceed to third-place playoffs
5	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	9	9	.500^[a]	4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: Shell 2–1 Purefoods

Semifinal round standings:

Pos	Team v t e	W	L
1	Alaska Milkmen	6	2
2	San Miguel Beermen	6	2
3	Sunkist Orange Juicers	3	5
4	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	3	5
5	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	2	6

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Third-place playoff

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
(3) Sunkist Orange Juicers	2–1	(4) Formula Shell Zoom Masters	107–97	107–114	110–92

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
(1) Alaska Milkmen	4–3	(2) San Miguel Beermen	93–85	90–102	110–96	100–108	110–117 (2OT)	94–86	99–86

Best Player of the Conference: Allan Caidic (San Miguel)
Best Import of the Conference: Stevin Smith (Sunkist)

Awards

Most Valuable Player: Vergel Meneses (Sunkist)
Rookie of the Year: Jeffrey Cariaso (Alaska)
Sportsmanship Award: Rey Evangelista (Purefoods)
Most Improved Player: Bonel Balingit (Sunkist)
Defensive Player of the Year: Art dela Cruz (San Miguel)
Mythical Five:
- Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
- Bong Hawkins (Alaska)
- Allan Caidic (San Miguel)
- Benjie Paras (Shell)
- Vergel Meneses (Sunkist)
Mythical Second Team:
- Boybits Victoria (Sunkist)
- Jojo Lastimosa (Alaska)
- Bonel Balingit (Sunkist)
- Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)
- Nelson Asaytono (Sunkist)
All Defensive Team:
- Jerry Codiñera (Purefoods)
- Glenn Capacio (Purefoods)
- Chris Jackson (Sta. Lucia)
- Elpidio Villamin (Sunkist)
- Art dela Cruz (San Miguel)

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

Coach of the Year: Derrick Pumaren (Sunkist)
Mr. Quality Minutes: Porfirio "Jun" Marzan (Shell)
Executive of the Year: Elmer Yanga (Swift)
Comeback Player of the Year: Elpidio Villamin (Sunkist)
Referee of the Year: Ernesto de Leon

Board of Governors

Emilio Bernardino (Commissioner)
Ruben Cleofe (Secretary)
Jose Concepcion III (Chairman, Republic Flour Mills Corp.)
Teodoro Dimayuga (Vice-Chairman, Purefoods Corp.)
Nazario Avendaño (Treasurer, San Miguel Corp.)
Wilfred Steven Uytengsu (General Milling Corp.)
Eliseo Santiago (Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.)
Vicente Santos (Sta. Lucia Realty and Development, Inc)
Luis Lorenzo, Sr (Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc)
Bernabe Navarro (La Tondeña Distillers, Inc)

Cumulative standings

Team	GP	W	L	PCT
Sunkist Orange Juicers	72	49	23	.680
Alaska Milkmen	75	46	29	.613
San Miguel Beermen	50	27	23	.540
Sta. Lucia Realtors	50	27	23	.540
Purefoods TJ Hotdogs	61	30	31	.492
Shell Rimula X Turbo Chargers / Formula Shell Gas Kings / Zoom Masters	54	20	34	.371
Pepsi Mega Bottlers	30	7	23	.233
Ginebra San Miguel	30	5	25	.166

References

^ Mon and San Miguel; Kahit Kailan Kaibigan, Part of the Game by: Tessa Jazmines, Sports Weekly Magazine, February 24, 1995
^ "After all-star madness, PBA back in serious mien". Manila Standard.
^ "Meneses claims MVP plum". Manila Standard.
^ PBA's 21st season: Speed is a thing, Hoop Notes by Quinito Henson, Sports Weekly Magazine, February 24, 1995