1986 Ginebra San Miguel season

Awards

Occurrences

A bitter rivalry since the Crispa-Toyota days was born during the All-Filipino championship between Tanduay Rhum and crowd-favorite Ginebra San Miguel, former Toyota teammates Ramon Fernandez and Robert Jaworski played on opposite sides in the finals for the first time. Adding color to their rivalry was Tanduay coach Arturo Valenzona, who steered Ginebra (then Gilbey's Gin) to three trips in the finals from 1982-1984, and the same coach the Big J replace on the Ginebra bench starting in 1985.

League pioneer Francis Arnaiz retired from active playing, after seeing action for a few games during the Third Conference.

Summary

Ginebra San Miguel had Terry Duerod and Jojo Hunter as their imports for the first conference, they lost their first game to Tanduay, 112-120 on April 8, Hunter was replaced after just one game by Clinton Wheeler. The Ginebras remain winless in four starts before picking up their first win against Manila Beer, 122-103 on April 22, where both teams were 0-4 before their match. Wheeler played five games and then opted to play elsewhere and was replaced by Keith Gray. The Ginebras were on a five-game winning streak before losing to Great Taste at the end of the elimination round. Ginebra won their first three matches in the semifinals and in a crucial game against Tanduay, lost in a close contest, 119-122 on May 20. The Ginebras' chances of entering the finals turns slim after losing to Alaska Milk in their next game. The team placed third with a 4-2 series win over Alaska in their battle for third place.

In the All-Filipino Conference with playing coach Robert Jaworski on leave for a yearly check up in the United States, the Ginebras struggled to a 2-4 won-loss slate in the eliminations, when Big J return to the bench, the Gins were back to their winning ways, sweeping all their three outings in the quarterfinals to enter the semifinal round. On August 21, Ginebra advances to the All-Filipino finals with a 91-83 win over Shell Helix. This was the fourth time the La Toñdena ballclub are playing in the championship series and the first since Robert Jaworski became player-coach of the team in 1985. Ginebra San Miguel were going up against Tanduay Rhum Makers in the finals, who were seeking their second straight title. Ginebra won the series opener but Tanduay took the last three games to capture the All-Filipino crown.

Billy Ray Bates, known as "The Black Superman", who led the famed Crispa Redmanizers to a Grandslam in 1983, teamed up with last year's Ginebra reinforcement and best import Michael Hackett for the Open Conference in an explosive combination that have captured the fascination and excitement of PBA fans from the moment it made headlines. In a highly anticipated first game of Ginebra in the third conference featuring the comebacking Billy Ray Bates and Michael Hackett going up against Alaska's comebacking imports as well, Norman Black and Donnie Ray Koonce, Ginebra won, 122-115, with Bates scoring 46 points and Hackett tallying 38 points. On October 7, Ginebra came back from a 9-point deficit in the last five minutes to turn back Manila Beer in an exciting contest, 113-109, as both teams were unbeaten with 3-0 slates before their match. Ginebra suffered their first loss after four straight wins to Tanduay in a grudge rematch, 109-114 on October 12, but easily advances in the semifinals outright along with Manila Beer, which had a terrific pair of Michael Young and Harold Keeling. The Ginebras and the Manila Beer Brewmasters pick up four wins in the semifinal round to enter the championship as they clearly dominated the other two semifinalists; Tanduay and Great Taste, with still one scheduled playing date left.

Championship

After eight years since joining the league in 1979, the La Tondeña ballclub won their first PBA championship by winning the Open Conference crown over Manila Beer, 4 games to 1. On the memorable night of December 11, 1986, Ginebra San Miguel clinched the trophy with a 130-120 victory in Game five. The Living Legend Robert Jaworski became the first playing coach to steered a team to a PBA title.

Notable date

December 9: Game four of the Open Conference finals, playing coach Robert Jaworski, along with imports Billy Ray Bates and Michael Hackett, played a total of 58 minutes in a 145-135 double-overtime victory over Manila Beer.