1993 Sta. Lucia Realtors season

The 1993 Sta. Lucia Realtors season was the first season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

1993 Sta. Lucia Realtors season
Head coachNat Canson
All Filipino Cup results
Record9–13
(.409)
Place4th
Playoff finishSemifinals
Commissioner's Cup results
Record1–10
(.091)
Place8th
Playoff finishEliminated
Governor's Cup results
Record13–9
(.591)
Place3rd
Playoff finishSemifinals
Sta. Lucia Realtors seasons

New team

The Sta. Lucia Realtors, a Realty firm who had a basketball team that won two titles in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), formalized its entry to the pro league by taking over the defunct Presto franchise. The new ballclub absorbed five players from Presto namely Gerry Esplana, Bong Hawkins, Peter Jao, Vergel Meneses and Zaldy Realubit. The Realtors got the biggest catch in the amateur draft, choosing multi-titled national team player Zandro "Jun" Limpot from De La Salle in the UAAP and Magnolia in the PBL as the number one overall pick. They also acquired another national team member Boyet Fernandez, who played for the ballclub in the amateurs but was originally picked by Swift in the annual draft.

Trades

After the All-Filipino Cup, the Sta. Lucia Realtors surprised many league followers by trading its top players Vergel Meneses and Zaldy Realubit to Swift Mighty Meaties in exchange for Ricric Marata and Jack Tanuan. The Realtors acquired two more Swift players, Alejandro De Guzman and Vilmer Bañares, and also traded Bong Hawkins to Alaska for Paul Alvarez.

Summary

The Sta. Lucia Realtors won their first four games in the All-Filipino Cup, defeated the Benjie Paras-less Shell Turbo Chargers in a rousing debut, 112-91, in the opening game of the season on February 28 at the newly built Cuneta Astrodome. One week later on March 7, the Realtors scored its third victory without a loss by upsetting the highly favored San Miguel Beermen, 88-80. Their fourth win came against 7-Up on March 12, winning by one point, 95-94, [1] before Coney Island halted their streak two days after with a 103-95 victory. [2] Sta. Lucia finish the eliminations with six wins and four losses. Seeded number four in the semifinals, the Realtors lost to San Miguel Beermen in four games in the best-of-five semifinal series. The team placed fourth in their very first conference.

NBA veteran Mike McGee, a former LA Lakers star, was Sta. Lucia's import for the Commissioner's Cup. After four games with Sta. Lucia remaining winless, McGee was replaced by Nikita Wilson, a second round draft pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1987. Wilson's entry did not help the Realtors, who are still adjusting to their new players after the blockbuster trade as they won only once in the eliminations and placed last.

Clifford Lett, who was among the early bird imports to blew into town, abandoned the Realtors a week before the start of the Governors Cup. Former Presto import Terrance Bailey was signed up as a replacement for Lett and played only one game for Sta. Lucia and scored only 12 points as he was no match against Beermen import Kenny Travis in their opening day blowout loss to San Miguel on September 26. The off-form Bailey begged to stay but Sta.Lucia had different plans and recruited Lambert Shell, a standout from University of Bridgeport, in their next game. Shell led the Realtors to the semifinal round and the team was at the bottom of the standings, lagging behind by two games against three other semifinalist. They scored two straight victories at the start of the semifinals against Swift, 115-111 on November 7, and outlasted San Miguel Beermen, 135-129, in a triple-overtime on November 9 where rookie Jun Limpot played a total of 60 minutes. Sta. Lucia completed their first round assignment by winning over Purefoods for the first time in the season, 123-116 on November 14. [3] The following week, the Realtors clinch the win-five incentive and a playoff for the second finals berth by repeating over Purefoods, 120-117. Missing the services of Paul Alvarez during the crucial stages, Sta. Lucia bowed to Tony Harris-led Swift in their playoff game on December 3 for the right to face San Miguel Beermen in the finals. The Realtors had a strong third-place finish in the season-ending conference.

Award

Top draft pick Zandro Limpot was honored as the season's Rookie of the year.

All-Filipino Cup roster
ROSTER # POS HT COLLEGE
Peter Jao 8 Guard-Forward 5"11' University of San Jose Recoletos
Zandro Limpot 9 Center-Forward 6"5' De La Salle University
Boyet Fernandez 11 Guard 5”9’ University of San Agustin
Rene Hawkins 12 Forward 6'3" Perpetual Help College of Rizal
Peter Aguilar 13 Center-Forward 6”5’ Trinity College
Gerald Esplana 14 Guard 6"0' Far Eastern University
Edgar Macaraya 17 Guard-Forward 5"10' San Sebastian College
Vergel Meneses 18 Forward 6”2’ Jose Rizal College
Rudy Enterina 20 Guard 5"11' University of the Visayas
Ricardo Cui 22 Guard-Forward 6"2' Lyceum of the Philippines
Melchor Teves 27 Guard 6"2' San Sebastian College
Zaldy Realubit 35 Center 6”5’ University of San Jose Recoletos
Maximo Delantes 50 Forward 6”2’ University of the Visayas

Commissioner's Cup / Governor's Cup roster
ROSTER # POS HT COLLEGE
Peter Jao 8 Guard-Forward 5"11' University of San Jose Recoletos
Boyet Fernandez 11 Guard 5”9’ University of San Agustin
Gerald Esplana 14 Guard 6"0' Far Eastern University
Hernani Demegillo Mid-season acquisition 15 Center-Forward 6"5' San Sebastian College
Edgar Macaraya 17 Guard-Forward 5"10' San Sebastian College
Ricardo Cui 22 Guard-Forward 6"2' Lyceum of the Philippines
Ric-Ric Marata 23 Guard 5"8' South Western University
Melchor Teves 27 Guard 6"2' San Sebastian College
Paul Alvarez 30 Forward 6”0’ San Sebastian College
Jack Tanuan 41 Center 6”5’ Far Eastern University
Maximo Delantes 50 Forward 6”2’ University of the Visayas
Alejandro De Guzman 62 Forward 6"2' Far Eastern University
Zandro Limpot 72 Center-Forward 6"5' De La Salle University
Vilmer Banares 93 Center-Forward 6”3’ University of the East
Mike McGee Commissioners Cup import 4 Center-Forward 6"5' University of Michigan
Nikita Wilson Commissioners Cup import 30 & 34 Center-Forward 6"4' Louisiana State University
Terrance Bailey Governors Cup import 11 Forward-Guard 6”1’ Wagner College
Lambert Shell Governors Cup import 42 Guard-Forward 6"2' University of Bridgeport

Assistant coaches: Adonis Tierra / Joshua Villapando Team Manager: Buddy Encarnado

References
  1. "Sta.Lucia outlasts 7-Up". Manila Standard.
  2. "Coney Island ends Sta.Lucia run". Manila Standard.
  3. "So far, yet so near". Manila Standard.
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