The 1980 Galleon Shippers season was the maiden season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
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New team
Galleon Shipping Corporation, a company owned by Rodolfo Cuenca, acquired the franchise of the disbanded Filmanbank. The franchise played in the 1980 PBA season as the Galleon Shippers. The core team was built around former Filmanbank players that included skipper Rudolf Kutch, Larry Mumar, Romulo Palijo, Nilo Cruz, Angelito Ladores and Ben Ocariza. It acquired two former U-Tex Wranglers, Anthony Dasalla and Renato Lobo, and a recruit from the amateur ranks, Robinson Obrique. The team was coached by Nic Jorge, with assistant Adriano Go, a former national youth team trainer.
Summary
Open Conference: Galleon lost in their very first game against Gilbey's Gin, 101-105 on March 18, import Paul McCracken scored 45 points in the Shippers' debut, McCracken's partner, 6-10 Larry Jackson was soon replaced by 7-foot Jeff Wilkins. The Shippers missed out the four-team semifinal round, placing fifth with a 10-win, 8-loss slate.
All-Filipino Conference: Galleon finish the elimination phase in the same standing with fellow first-year ballclub Tefilin with 3 wins and 6 losses and failed to advance in the round of six. The Shippers swept all their three games against Honda, Tefilin and Presto in a one-round robin among 4 teams ousted in the quarterfinal phase. Galleon overall finish the season with a winning percentage of 16 wins and 14 losses in 30 games.