Pampanga Giant Lanterns

For the Christmas lantern festival in Pampanga that the team is named after, see Giant Lantern Festival.

Pampanga Giant Lanterns
League	MPBL (2018–present) PSL (2022–2023)
Founded	2018 (2018)
History	MPBL: Pampanga Lanterns (2018–2019) Pampanga Giant Lanterns (2019–present) PSL: Pampanga G Lanterns (2022–2023)
Arena	Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center
Location	Pampanga
Team colors
Main sponsor	ADG Group of Companies
Head coach	Dennis Pineda
Championships	MPBL: 1 (2023) PSL: 1 (2022–23)
Conference titles	MPBL: 1 (2023)

The Pampanga Giant Lanterns, also known as Pampanga Giant Lanterns – AMG3 Construction for sponsorship reasons, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the province of Pampanga. The team currently competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as one of four active teams based in the Central Luzon region, playing their home games at Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando.

The team began play in the 2018–19 season. The team has also played in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL). The team is owned by the Provincial Government of Pampanga.

As of 2023, the Giant Lanterns have won two league championships, one in the MPBL and one in the PSL.

History

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

Pampanga first joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as one of sixteen expansion teams for the 2018–19 season. The team first played their home games at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City. The team tied with the Caloocan Supremos for the 8th seed in the playoffs, as both teams share a record of 11–14. The latter got ahead of Pampanga due to the head-to-head tiebreaker, causing the Lanterns to miss the playoffs.

Playoff hopes for Pampanga didn't stop there, as in the 2019–20 season, the team moved up to 4th with a record of 21–9, giving them their first playoff appearance. In the playoffs, the team first met with their Central Luzon neighbor Bataan Risers in the First Round, in which Pampanga beat in two games. Afterwards, they met the defending champion San Juan Knights in the Division Semifinals, where San Juan would beat Pampanga in two games.

The 2022 season saw an arena change for Pampanga, moving from Angeles City to San Fernando, where they now play at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center. That season also saw Pampanga finish 4th, with a record of 14–7. Once again, the team met Bataan in the First Round, but this time, Bataan won game 2 in overtime to force a third game. Even then, Pampanga beat Bataan in game 3 to once again advance to the Division Semifinals. They then met another Central Luzon neighbor, this time being the undefeatedd Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, in which Nueva Ecija would sweep Pampanga out of the playoffs once again. Archie Concepcion would also win the Homegrown Player of the Year award that season.

In the 2023 season, Pampanga was coming off their 2022–23 PSL DUMPER Cup championship with their star player in Justine Baltazar. During the season, the team acquired former Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters player Encho Serrano, which helped the team catapult to a league-leading 26–2 record, only losing to Batangas City and Makati during the regular season. The 26 wins is tied for the most wins in a single season in the MPBL, together with San Juan and Davao Occidental in 2020. In time for the First Round, nine-time PBA champion Arwind Santos joined the Giant Lanterns. Both Serrano and Santos were listed as part of the roster before the season started, but were only able to play later on.

Pilipinas Super League

Between the 2022 and 2023 MPBL seasons, the Pampanga Giant Lanterns franchise made its way to the Pilipinas Super League for the 2022 DUMPER Cup. It was at that time in which homegrown big man Justine Baltazar made his arrival to the team in December. The team finished with a 10–5 record, ending up in a three-way tie between them, Santa Rosa, and Caloocan. In the head-to-head tiebreaker, Pampanga finished ahead of both teams, claiming the 4th seed in the playoffs. Pampanga beat Santa Rosa and undefeated San Juan on their way to the Finals against the Davao Occidental Tigers. Pampanga went on to beat Davao Occidental in two games to clinch their first-ever championship in franchise history.

Team identity

The team is named after the Giant Lantern Festival which takes place in San Fernando, Pampanga. The word "giant" wasn't originally in the team's name, as they were simply called the Pampanga Lanterns for their inaugural MPBL season. Once the 2019–20 season started, the team was renamed into its current form: the Pampanga Giant Lanterns. During its PSL stint, the team's name was shortened to the Pampanga G Lanterns.

Orange has always been a prominent color for the Pampanga franchise. Since its PSL stint, blue has also become a prominent color, mainly on the team's home jersey.

Season-by-season records

This is a list of seasons completed by Pampanga in the MPBL. For the full season-by-season history and other league records, see List of Pampanga Giant Lanterns seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, PCT = Winning percentage

Season	GP	W	L	PCT	Finish	Playoffs
2018–19	25	11	14	.440	9th, North	Did not qualify
2019–20	30	21	9	.700	4th, North	Lost in Division Semifinals, 0–2 (San Juan)
2022	21	14	7	.667	4th, North	Lost in Division Semifinals, 0–2 (Nueva Ecija)
2023	28	26	2	.929	1st, North	MPBL champions, 3–0 (Bacoor City)

Current roster

Pampanga Giant Lanterns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G/F 2 Concepcion, Archie (HG) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Arellano G 3 Gomez de Liaño, Joe 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) F 4 Santos, Kevin Kyle (HG, SGL) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Letran F/C 8 Eguilos, Jhaymo 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1986–08–27 Far Eastern G/F 9 Dela Cruz, Joshua (HG, SGL) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) G 11 Garcia, MJ (HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) SPCF G 13 Reyson, Kurt 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Letran G/F 15 Alcoriza, Rence Luis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Arellano F 16 Gozum, Martin (HG) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) G/F 18 Serrano, Encho (HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 1999–09–18 De La Salle F/C 19 Baltazar, Justine (HG) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1997–02–19 De La Salle F 21 Baltazar, Wilson C 22 Santos, Ronan (HG) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Arellano C 25 De Leon, Matt (HG) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Arellano F 29 Ramirez, Brandon (HG) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) F 29 Santos, Arwind (HG) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1981-06-10 Far Eastern G 30 Binuya, Raymond (HG) 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) San Sebastian F 43 Liwag, Allen (SGL) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) St. Benilde F 45 Flores, Lervin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1992–09–26 Arellano G 74 Viernes, Jeff 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 143 lb (65 kg) 1989–05–18 St. Clare

Head coach Frederic Dimatulac Assistant coach(es) Manuel Luis Marquez Billy Bansil Jordan Viray Camille Istle Santos Jay Sierra Legend (HG) Homegrown (FF) Filipino-foreigner (SGL) Special Guest Licensee (RS) Reserve player Injured Roster – via Genius Sports Updated as of: July 2, 2024

Head coaches

Pampanga Giant Lanterns head coaches

2018–present
#	Name	Start	End	Regular Season				Playoffs				Best Finish	Achievements
				GC	W	L	Win%	GC	W	L	Win%
1	Isaiah Duenas Aldrin Morante	2018	2019	0	0	0	–	0	0	0	–
2	Bong Ramos	2019	2020	0	0	0	–	0	0	0	–
3	Jordan Viray	2022	present	0	0	0	–	0	0	0	–

Notable players

Pampanga Giant Lanterns notable players
Player	Position	Tenure	Awards	All-Star
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
Levi Hernandez		2018–2020	—	1 (2019)
Michael Juico		2018–2020	—	1 (2020)
Archie Concepcion		2022–2023	1x Homegrown Player of the Year (2022) 1x All-MPBL Second Team (2023)	1 (2022)
Justine Baltazar		2023–present	1x Finals Most Valuable Player (2023) 1x Most Valuable Player (2023) 1x All-MPBL First Team (2023)	1 (2023)
Encho Serrano		2023–present	—	1 (2023)