1998 Mobiline Phone Pals season
| 1998 Mobiline Phone Pals season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Tommy Manotoc Eric Altamirano |
| Owner(s) | Pilipino Telephone Corporation |
| All-Filipino Cup results | |
| Record | 4–7 (36.4%) |
| Place | 7th |
| Playoff finish | Eliminated |
| Commissioner's Cup results | |
| Record | 5–7 (41.7%) |
| Place | 6th |
| Playoff finish | Quarterfinals |
| Centennial/Governors Cup results | |
| Record | 18–13 (58.1%) |
| Place | 2nd |
| Playoff finish | Finals |
| Mobiline Phone Pals seasons | |
The 1998 Mobiline Phone Pals season was the 9th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Off-season transactions
| TRANSACTIONS |
|---|
| Ato Agustin Release; signed with Pampanga Dragons in the MBA |
| Merwin Castelo Signed to a two-year deal; release by Alaska |
| Gabby Cui Acquired from Sta.Lucia when they traded Richard Del Rosario |
| Braulio Lim Drafted Rookie; moved to Alaska during the mid-season |
| Franz Pumaren Retired from active playing |
Summary
Mobiline coach Tommy Manotoc has hired three-time MVP William Adornado as one of his assistant coaches at the start of the season. The Phone Pals were blown out by Gordon's Gin, 69-93, in their first game in the All-Filipino Cup on February 3. Mobiline bounced back with a win over Purefoods, 67-64, in their next game on February 8, [1] after a 3-2 won-loss start, [2] the Phone Pals lost four in a row that put them on a brink, they won over San Miguel, 89-77 on March 8, to keep their hopes alive, [3] but lost their last game to already-ousted Formula Shell, 76-81 in Legaspi City on March 14.
Beginning the Commissioner's Cup on May 22, former Purefoods coach Eric Altamirano signed a four-year contract to coach the Mobiline Phone Pals, Altamirano's contract with Purefoods expired last March 31. The Phone Pals lost their first two games with Alex Fraser as their import, Fraser was replaced by their original choice Terquin Mott, who put in big numbers, scoring 50 points in one game and averaged 36.3 points in nine games he played, somehow his behavior at times when he ran wild on the floor couldn't help the team finish no higher than sixth place.
Mobiline finally captured a PBA title in a "bonus" tournament called Centennial Cup, the Phone Pals defeated Formula Shell, 67-66, in the one-game finale. The perfect combination of imports Silas Mills and Artemus McClary led Mobiline to the Governor's Cup finals in a rematch with Formula Shell, the Phone Pals played without national team members Jeffrey Cariaso and Andy Seigle for the whole conference, they lost in the championship series that went into a full limit of seven games.
Awards
- Silas Mills was named Governor's Cup Best Import.
- Patrick Fran was voted the season's Most Improved Player.
Roster
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
