2008 PBA Fiesta Conference

The 2008 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference, also known as the 2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference for sponsorship reasons, was the last conference of the 2007-08 PBA season. The tournament began on March 29 with a game between the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals at Panabo, Davao del Norte. Opening ceremonies were held the day after at the Araneta Coliseum.

2008 PBA Fiesta Conference
Duration	March 29 – August 20, 2008
TV partner(s)	ABC/TV5 (Local) The Filipino Channel (International)
Finals
Champions	Barangay Ginebra Kings
Runners-up	Air21 Express
Awards
Best Player	Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra Kings)
Best Import	Chris Alexander (Barangay Ginebra Kings)
Finals MVP	Eric Menk and Ronald Tubid (Barangay Ginebra Kings)
PBA Fiesta Conference chronology
< 2007 2009 >
PBA conference chronology
< 2007–08 Philippine 2008–09 Philippine >

All ten teams are permitted to acquire one non-Filipino (the "import") of unlimited height as reinforcement. Furthermore, the two worst performers in the elimination round of the previous conference (the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Welcoat Dragons), will also be able to acquire another import but with a height limit of 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m).

Tournament format

• Double round eliminations. Worst team would be eliminated.
• Sixth- to ninth-best teams figure in the one-game wildcard playoffs.
  • Sixth seed vs. Ninth seed
  • Seventh seed vs. Eighth seed
  • Winners will figure in a playoff to advance to the quarterfinals.
• Third- to fifth-best teams, and the winner of the wildcards advance to the best-of-three quarterfinals.
  • Third seed vs. winner of wildcards.
  • Fourth seed vs. fifth seed.
• The two best teams and the winners of the quarterfinals advance to the best-of-seven semifinals.
  • First seed vs. winner of the third seed/wildcard winner quarterfinal series
  • Second seed vs. winner of the fourth seed/fifth seed quarterfinal series
• The winners of the semifinals advance to the best-of-seven Finals; the losers figure in a one-game third-place playoff.

Elimination round

Team standings

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Air21 Express	12	6	.667	—	Advance to semifinals
2	Red Bull Barako	11	7	.611	1
3	Barangay Ginebra Kings	10	8	.556[a]	2	Advance to quarterfinals
4	Coca-Cola Tigers	10	8	.556[a]	2
5	Magnolia Beverage Masters	10	8	.556[a]	2
6	Alaska Aces	9	9	.500[b]	3	Advance to wildcard round
7	Talk 'N Text Phone Pals	9	9	.500[b]	3
8	Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants	8	10	.444	4
9	Sta. Lucia Realtors	7	11	.389	5
10	Welcoat Dragons	4	14	.222	8

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. Head-to-head differential: Barangay Ginebra +14, Coca-Cola +4, Magnolia −18
2. Head-to-head record: Alaska 1–1 Talk 'N Text (Alaska +9)

Schedule

	Round 1									Round 2
Team ╲ Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Air21	WEL	RBB	PF	Coke	TNT	ALA	BGK	SLR	Coke	MBM	BGK	RBB	SLR	ALA	TNT	WEL	MBM	PF
Alaska	SLR	BGK	MBM	WEL	RBB	A21	TNT	PF	Coke	RBB	TNT	PF	A21	WEL	SLR	Coke	MBM	BGK
Barangay Ginebra	RBB	ALA	SLR	Coke	MBM	PF	A21	TNT	WEL	A21	MBM	RBB	SLR	PF	Coke	TNT	WEL	ALA
Coca-Cola	TNT	PF	WEL	A21	BGK	SLR	RBB	MBM	ALA	A21	RBB	WEL	PF	TNT	BGK	MBM	ALA	SLR
Magnolia	PF	SLR	ALA	TNT	BGK	WEL	RBB	Coke	PF	A21	BGK	TNT	WEL	RBB	SLR	Coke	A21	ALA
Purefoods	MBM	Coke	A21	RBB	WEL	BGK	ALA	MBM	TNT	SLR	ALA	Coke	WEL	BGK	RBB	TNT	SLR	A21
Red Bull	BGK	A21	TNT	PF	ALA	Coke	MBM	SLR	WEL	ALA	Coke	A21	BGK	MBM	PF	WEL	TNT	SLR
Sta. Lucia	ALA	MBM	BGK	TNT	Coke	WEL	RBB	A21	TNT	WEL	PF	A21	BGK	MBM	ALA	PF	Coke	RBB
Talk 'N Text	Coke	WEL	RBB	MBM	SLR	A21	ALA	WEL	BGK	SLR	PF	ALA	MBM	Coke	A21	PF	BGK	RBB
Welcoat	A21	TNT	Coke	ALA	PF	MBM	SLR	TNT	RBB	BGK	SLR	Coke	MBM	PF	ALA	A21	RBB	BGK

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
  = Win;   = OT win;   = Loss;   = OT loss

Bracket

	Wildcard phase (Single elimination)					Wildcard phase (Single elimination)					Quarterfinals (Best-of-3)					Semifinals (Best-of-7)					Finals (Best-of-7)
	6	Alaska	85													3	Brgy. Ginebra	4
	9	Sta. Lucia	99								3	Brgy. Ginebra	2			2	Red Bull	0
						9	Sta. Lucia	111			9	Sta. Lucia	0
						7	Talk 'N Text	96													3	Brgy. Ginebra	4
	7	Talk 'N Text	98																		1	Air21	3
	8	Purefoods	83
																1	Air21	4			Third place
											4	Coca-Cola	1			5	Magnolia	2
											5	Magnolia	2								2	Red Bull	102
																					5	Magnolia	90

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Wildcard phase

First round

ABC

July 9

Alaska Aces 86, Sta. Lucia Realtors 99

Ynares Center, Antipolo

ABC

July 9

Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 98, Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants 83

Ynares Center, Antipolo

Second round

ABC

July 11

Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 96, Sta. Lucia Realtors 111

Ynares Center, Antipolo

Quarterfinals

(3) Barangay Ginebra vs. (9) Sta. Lucia

ABC

July 13

Barangay Ginebra Kings 92, Sta. Lucia Realtors 90

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

ABC

July 16

Barangay Ginebra Kings 113, Sta. Lucia Realtors 85

Barangay Ginebra wins series, 2–0

Ynares Center, Antipolo

(4) Coca-Cola vs. (5) Magnolia

ABC

July 13

Coca-Cola Tigers 96, Magnolia Beverage Masters 108

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

ABC

July 16

Coca-Cola Tigers 91, Magnolia Beverage Masters 90

Ynares Center, Antipolo

ABC

July 18

Coca-Cola Tigers 60, Magnolia Beverage Masters 78

Magnolia wins series, 2–1

Ynares Center, Antipolo

Semifinals

(1) Air21 vs. (5) Magnolia

ABC

July 20

Air21 Express 87, Magnolia Beverage Masters 113

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

ABC

July 23

Air21 Express 103, Magnolia Beverage Masters 102

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

ABC

July 25

Air21 Express 82, Magnolia Beverage Masters 78

Ynares Center, Antipolo

ABC

July 27

Air21 Express 102, Magnolia Beverage Masters 104

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

ABC

July 30

Air21 Express 82, Magnolia Beverage Masters 72

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

ABC

August 1

Air21 Express 99, Magnolia Beverage Masters 91

Air21 wins series, 4–2

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

(2) Red Bull vs. (3) Barangay Ginebra

ABC

July 20

Red Bull Barako 82, Barangay Ginebra Kings 108

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

ABC

July 23

Red Bull Barako 104, Barangay Ginebra Kings 111

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

ABC

July 25

Red Bull Barako 91, Barangay Ginebra Kings 94

Ynares Center, Antipolo

ABC

July 27

Red Bull Barako 97, Barangay Ginebra Kings 101 (OT)

Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–0

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Third place playoff

ABC

August 6

Red Bull Barako 102, Magnolia Beverage Masters 90

Scoring by quarter: 28-22, 15-26, 27-37, 20-17

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Finals

Main article: 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference finals

ABC

August 6 7:20 p.m.

boxscore

Air21 Express 96, Barangay Ginebra Kings 105

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 16,028 Referees: Aldaba, Ting, Maurillo

ABC

August 8 7:20 p.m.

boxscore

Air21 Express 124, Barangay Ginebra Kings 90

Ynares Center, Antipolo Referees: Montiel, Ferrer, Pascual

TV5

August 10 6:30 p.m.

boxscore

Air21 Express 97, Barangay Ginebra Kings 87

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 15,142

TV5

August 13 7:20 p.m.

boxscore

Air21 Express 77, Barangay Ginebra Kings 90

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Cruz, Aldaba, Quilinguen

TV5

August 15 7:20 p.m.

boxscore

Air21 Express 76, Barangay Ginebra Kings 73

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay Referees: Cruz, Calungcaguin, Guevarra

TV5

August 17 6:30 p.m.

boxscore

Air21 Express 75, Barangay Ginebra Kings 80

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 18,043

TV5

August 20 7:20 p.m.

boxscore

Air21 Express 84, Barangay Ginebra Kings 97

Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–3

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 22,902

Awards

• Finals Most Valuable Player: Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk (Barangay Ginebra)
• Best Player of the Conference: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
• Best Import of the Conference: Chris Alexander (Barangay Ginebra)
• Players of the Week:
  • March 29-April 6: Kelly Williams (Sta. Lucia)
  • April 7–13: Danny Seigle (Magnolia)
  • April 14–20: Cyrus Baguio (Red Bull)
  • April 22-May 4: Mark Cardona (Talk 'N Text)
  • May 5–11: Asi Taulava (Coca-Cola) & Rob Wainwright (Welcoat)
  • May 12–18: Willie Miller (Alaska)
  • May 19–25: Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
  • May 26-June 1: Gary David (Air21)
  • June 2–8: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
  • June 9–15: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
  • June 16–22: Lordy Tugade (Magnolia) & Ren-Ren Ritualo (Talk 'N Text)
  • June 23–29: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
  • June 30–July 6: Gary David (Air21) & Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
  • July 7–July 13: Joseph Yeo (Sta. Lucia)
  • July 14–July 20: none
  • July 21–July 27: Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
  • July 28–August 3: Gary David (Air21)

Imports

The following is the list of imports, which had played for their respective teams at least once, with the returning imports in italics. Highlighted are the imports who stayed with their respective teams for the whole conference.

#	Name	Team	Debuted
1	Calvin Cage	Coca-Cola Tigers	March 29 vs. Talk 'N Text
2	Jason Dixon	Coca-Cola Tigers	March 29 vs. Talk 'N Text
3	Aaron McGhee	Talk 'N Text Phone Pals	March 29 vs. Coca-Cola
4	Steve Thomas	Air21 Express	March 30 vs. Welcoat
5	Jason Keep	Welcoat Dragons	March 30 vs. Air21
6	Cory Santee	Welcoat Dragons	March 30 vs. Air21
7	Adam Parada	Red Bull Barako	March 30 vs. Brgy. Ginebra
8	Rahshon Turner	Barangay Ginebra Kings	March 30 vs. Red Bull
9	Wesley Wilson	Sta. Lucia Realtors	April 2 vs. Alaska
10	Randy Holcomb	Alaska Aces	April 2 vs. Sta. Lucia
11	Darius Rice	Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants	April 2 vs. Magnolia
12	Jameel Watkins	Magnolia Beverage Masters	April 2 vs. Purefoods
13	Marquis Gainous	Welcoat Dragons	April 9 vs. Coca-Cola
14	Ernest Brown	Barangay Ginebra Kings	April 12 vs. Sta. Lucia
15	George Gervin, Jr.	Coca-Cola Tigers	April 13 vs. Air21
16	Chris Alexander	Barangay Ginebra Kings	May 2 vs. Purefoods
17	Reda Rhalimi	Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants	May 10 vs. Alaska
18	Donald Copeland	Coca-Cola Tigers	May 23 vs. Red Bull
19	Jamar Brown	Sta. Lucia Realtors	June 1 vs. Air21
20	Lee Benson, Jr.	Sta. Lucia Realtors	June 13 vs. Magnolia
21	Amal McCaskill	Magnolia Beverage Masters	June 13 vs. Sta. Lucia
22	Terrence Leather	Talk 'N Text Phone Pals	June 13 vs. Air21
23	Alex Compton	Welcoat Dragons	June 18 vs. Air21
24	Brandon Dean	Coca-Cola Tigers	July 13 vs. Magnolia

External links

• Philippine Basketball Association official website