2004–05 PBA season
| 2004–05 PBA season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Duration | October 3, 2004 - July 10, 2005 |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC |
| 2004 PBA Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Rich Alvarez |
| Picked by | Shell Turbo Chargers |
| Season MVP | Eric Menk (Barangay Ginebra Kings) |
| Philippine Cup champions | Barangay Ginebra Kings |
| Fiesta Conference champions | San Miguel Beermen |
The 2004–05 PBA season was the 30th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. Instead of the usual calendar year of February–December, the league changed its schedule to the current October–July format, while limiting the number of conferences from three to two. As part of the new league format, the season was preceded with a transition conference known as the 2004 PBA Fiesta Conference.
Opening ceremonies
The muses for the participating teams are as follows:
2004-05 Philippine Cup
Barangay Ginebra won its first back-to-back titles, with a 4-2 conquest of the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals. The series was marred by a controversial reversal of the Phone Pals' Game 1 victory after fielding in an ineligible Taulava in the said game. Taulava was serving an indefinite suspension after being cited as one of six Filipino-American players with questionable citizenship papers.
The San Miguel Beermen won third place after beating the Shell Turbo Chargers in a one-game match.
Eric Menk won another Best Player of the Conference Award, his third in his PBA career.
Chot Reyes left his post as the Coca Cola Tigers head coach to become the new coach of the Philippine national basketball team
Classification round
| Qualified for semifinals | |
| Qualified for wildcards with the twice-to-beat advantage | |
| Qualified for wildcards | |
| Qualified for wildcards with the twice-to-win disadvantage |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | PD | PO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 13 | 5 | .722 | - | ||
| 2 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | NA* | 
|
| 3 | Shell Turbo Chargers | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | NA* | 
|
| 4 | Alaska Aces | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | +16 |
|
| 5 | San Miguel Beermen | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | +11 |
|
| 6 | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | -27 | |
| 7 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 8 | 10 | .444 | 5 | ||
| 8 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 6 | 12 | .333 | 6 | +15 | |
| 9 | FedEx Express | 6 | 12 | .333 | 6 | +4 | |
| 10 | Red Bull Thunder | 6 | 12 | .333 | 6 | -19 |
NA* = teams tied for 2nd and 3rd would have to play an extra game regardless of the results of their classification round games.
Playoffs
| Wildcard phase | Quarterfinals (best-of-3) | Semifinals (best-of-5) | Finals (best-of-7) | |||||||||||||||
| (#4 twice to beat) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Alaska | 96 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Barangay Ginebra | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | FedEx | 93 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Alaska | 0 | 5 | San Miguel | 2 | |||||||||||||
| (best-of-3) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | San Miguel | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | San Miguel | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Barangay Ginebra | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Sta. Lucia | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Talk 'N Text | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| (#3 twice to beat) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Shell | 98 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Talk 'N Text | 3 | Third-place playoff | |||||||||||||||
| 10 | Red Bull | 77 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Shell | 2 | 3 | Shell | 0 | |||||||||||||
| (best-of-3) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Purefoods | 1 | 5 | San Miguel | 105 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Purefoods | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Shell | 100 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Coca-Cola | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Final results
- Philippine Cup Finals: Brgy. Ginebra def. Talk N' Text 4-2
- Finals MVP: Eric Menk (Brgy. Ginebra)
- Third Place: San Miguel def. Shell
- Best Player of the Conference: Eric Menk (Brgy. Ginebra)
2005 Fiesta Conference
San Miguel won its 17th PBA title with a 4-1 series victory over Talk N' Text in the finals. The league finally allowed Taulava to play in the series but still lost to the veteran-laided Beermen. Shell won third place over Red Bull in a one-game match, the last appearance of the Turbo Chargers in the league, as it filed for a leave of absence in August 2005, eventually selling the rights to Welcoat.
Talk N' Text's Willie Miller was named the Best Player of the Conference while teammate Jerald Honeycutt won the Best Import plum.
Classification round
| Qualified for semifinals | |
| Qualified for wildcards with the twice-to-beat advantage | |
| Qualified for wildcards | |
| Qualified for wildcards with the twice-to-win disadvantage |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 12 | 6 | .667 | -- | |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 |
|
| 3 | Alaska Aces | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 |
|
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 10 | 8 | .556 | 2 | |
| 5 | FedEx Express | 9 | 9 | .500 | 3 | +15 |
| 6 | Red Bull Thunder | 9 | 9 | .500 | 3 | -15 |
| 7 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 8 | 10 | .444 | 4 | |
| 8 | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | 7 | 11 | .389 | 5 | +6 |
| 9 | Shell Turbo Chargers | 7 | 11 | .389 | 5 | -6 |
| 10 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 6 | 12 | .333 | 6 |
Playoffs
| Wildcard phase | Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Finals (Best-of-7) | ||||||||||||||||
| (#4 twice to beat) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Sta. Lucia | 74 | 85 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Talk 'N Text | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Shell | 85 | 87 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Shell | 2 | 9 | Shell | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| (Best-of-3) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Purefoods | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | FedEx | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Talk 'N Text | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Purefoods | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Miguel | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| (#3 twice to beat) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Alaska | 86 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Miguel | 3 | Third place playoff | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Coca-Cola | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Alaska | 1 | 6 | Red Bull | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| (Best-of-3) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Red Bull | 2 | 9 | Shell | 102 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Red Bull | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Red Bull | 86 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Barangay Ginebra | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Final results
- Fiesta Conference Finals: San Miguel def. Talk 'N Text, 4-1
- Finals MVP: Danny Ildefonso (San Miguel)
- Third Place: Shell def. Red Bull, 102-86
- Best Player of the Conference: Willie Miller (Talk 'N Text)
- Best Import Award: Jerald Honeycutt (Talk 'N Text)
Individual awards
- Most Valuable Player: Eric Menk (Brgy. Ginebra)
- Rookie of the Year: Rich Alvarez (Shell)
- Most Improved Player: Enrico Villanueva (Red Bull)
- Mythical First Team
- Eric Menk (Brgy. Ginebra)
- Jimmy Alapag (Talk N' Text)
- Willie Miller (Talk N' Text)
- Nic Belasco (San Miguel)
- Dorian Peña (San Miguel)
- Mythical Second Team
- Mark Caguioa (Brgy. Ginebra)
- Olsen Racela (San Miguel)
- Mark Telan (Talk N' Text)
- Tony dela Cruz (Shell)
- Rommel Adducul (Brgy. Ginebra)
- All-Defensive Team
- Enrico Villanueva (Red Bull)
- Rich Alvarez (Shell)
- Junthy Valenzuela (Red Bull)
- Johnny Abarrientos (Coca-Cola)
- Dennis Espino (Sta. Lucia)
Awards given by the PBA Press Corps
- Coach of the Year: Siot Tanquincen (Barangay Ginebra)
- Mr. Quality Minutes: Ronald Tubid (Shell)
- Comeback Player of the Year: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
- Referee of the Year: Luisito Cruz
- All-Rookie Team
- Paul Artadi (Purefoods)
- James Yap (Purefoods)
- Rich Alvarez (Shell)
- Ranidel de Ocampo (Air21)
- Sonny Thoss (Alaska)
