2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational

The 2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational was the preseason pocket tournament for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2023 season and the second edition of the MPBL Preseason Invitational. The tournament began February 21, 2023 and ended with the final game on February 27, 2023 when the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines beat the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, 88–80. Dexter Maiquez was crowned the tournament's MVP.^[1]

2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational

2023 OKBet MPBL Preseason Invitational
Tournament details
Country	Philippines
City	General Santos
Venue(s)	Lagao Gymnasium
Dates	February 21–27, 2023
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines
Runner-up	Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards
Third place	Imus SV Squad
Fourth place	Sarangani Marlins
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
← 2021 2024 →

The tournament was once again held at a single venue, this time being the Lagao Gymnasium in General Santos, home of the GenSan Warriors, with a format is similar to that of the previous edition, albeit downsized to accommodate the smaller pool of teams.^[2]

Teams

A total of eight teams competed in the tournament. These include seven MPBL teams, as well as Bulalakaw, a local team based in General Santos, as the league’s first-ever guest team. Making their first Invitational appearances were the Batangas City Embassy Chill (competing as the Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters) and Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines.^[3]

List of 2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational teams

Team	Invitational statistics			2022 season statistics
	Apps.	Last	Best result	Record	Playoff result
Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters[a]	1	—		17–4 (.810)	Division Finals
Bulalakaw (guest team)	1	—		—
GenSan Warriors	2	2021	Group stage (2021)	15–6 (.714)	Division Quarterfinals
Imus SV Squad[b]	2	2021	Fourth place (2021)	5–16 (.238)	–
Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards	2	2021	Runner-up (2021)	21–0 (1.000)	Champion
Sarangani Marlins	2	2021	Group stage (2021)	16–5 (.762)	Division Quarterfinals
Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc.	2	2021	Group stage (2021)	10–11 (.476)	Division Quarterfinals
Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines	1	—		18–3 (.857)	National Finals

Notes

1. Competed as Batangas City Embassy Chill during the 2022 season. The name change was only made temporary for the Preseason Invitational.
2. Competed as Imus City Bandera during the 2022 season. The new name would remain for the 2023 season.

Format

The tournament is divided into two stages: the group stage and the playoffs. The eight participating teams are divided into two groups of four. Both groups play in a single round-robin format, wherein each team plays one game against all other teams within the same group. The top two teams in each group advance to a two-round, single-elimination playoffs consisting of all knockout games.

This time around, every team was given prize money based on their standings: ₱3 million for the champion, ₱500,000 for the runner-up, ₱300,000 for the third-place team, ₱200,000 for the fourth-place team, and ₱100,000 for all non-playoff teams.^[3]

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification		ZAM	SAR	BLL	BTG
1	Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines	3	2[a]	1	277	248	+29	Playoffs		—	92–85	102–75	83–88
2	Sarangani Marlins	3	2[a]	1	284	268	+16			85–92	—	106–86	93–90
3	Bulalakaw	3	1[b]	2	233	278	−45			75–102	86–106	—	72–70
4	Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters	3	1[b]	2	248	248	0			88–83	90–93	70–72	—

Source: Schedule – via Genius Sports
Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2a) If two teams are tied, head-to-head match-up; 2b) If three or more teams are tied, head-to-head point quotient; 3) overall point quotient; 4) coin toss.
Notes:

1. Zamboanga wins tiebreaker over Sarangani by head-to-head victory.
2. Bulalakaw wins tiebreaker over Batangas City by head-to-head victory.

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification		NE	IMS	GS	VAL
1	Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards	3	3	0	255	209	+46	Playoffs		—	88–78	73–67	94–64
2	Imus SV Squad	3	2	1	244	214	+30			78–88	—	78–61	88–65
3	GenSan Warriors	3	1	2	210	224	−14			67–73	61–78	—	82–73
4	Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc.	3	0	3	202	264	−62			64–94	65–88	73–82	—

Source: Schedule – via Genius Sports
Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2a) If two teams are tied, head-to-head match-up; 2b) If three or more teams are tied, head-to-head point quotient; 3) overall point quotient; 4) coin toss.

Playoffs

Bracket

	Semifinals					Finals
	A1	Zamboanga	89
	B2	Imus	82
						A1	Zamboanga	88
						B1	Nueva Ecija	80
	B1	Nueva Ecija	112
	A2	Sarangani	89			Battle for Third
						B2	Imus	93
						A2	Sarangani	76

Semifinals

One PH One Sports+

February 25 7:00 pm

Boxscore

Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines	89–82	Imus SV Squad
Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 22–20, 24–28, 22–11
Pts: Judel Fuentes 21 Rebs: Judel Fuentes 9 Asts: Judel Fuentes, Jayvee Marcelino 6		Pts: Mark Cardona 24 Rebs: Jaymar Gimpayan 16 Asts: Mark Cardona, Jaymar Gimpayan 5

Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos, South Cotabato

One PH One Sports+

February 25 9:00 pm

Boxscore

Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards	112–89	Sarangani Marlins
Scoring by quarter: 21–16, 32–25, 28–20, 31–28
Pts: John Villarias 18 Rebs: William McAloney 7 Asts: Four players 4		Pts: Nemesis Dela Cruz 18 Rebs: Anthony Sistoza 8 Asts: Alex Desoyo 5

Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos, South Cotabato

Battle for Third

One PH One Sports+

February 27 7:00 pm

Boxscore

Imus SV Squad	93–76	Sarangani Marlins
Scoring by quarter: 18–11, 24–20, 27–14, 24–31
Pts: Jaymar Gimpayan 22 Rebs: Jaymar Gimpayan 20 Asts: Jayjay Helterbrand 11		Pts: Orin Catacutan 17 Rebs: Marc Poole 7 Asts: Rafael Are 5

Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos, South Cotabato

Finals

One PH One Sports+

February 27 9:00 pm

Boxscore

Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards	80–88	Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines
Scoring by quarter: 13–30, 21–20, 23–19, 23–19
Pts: Michael Juico 15 Rebs: Michael Juico 8 Asts: Chris Bitoon 5		Pts: Dexter Maiquez 29 Rebs: three players 7 Asts: Jerald Bautista, Judel Fuentes 5

Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos, South Cotabato

Media

This was the first MPBL Invitational under Cignal TV's ongoing broadcast partnership with the league. The games were broadcast on One PH and One Sports+ on television. The league streamed all of the games online on Facebook and YouTube.