The 1989 Presto Tivolis season was the 15th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Previously known as Presto Ice Cream Flavor Specialist in the Open Conference.
Contents
Occurrences
Assistant Coach Adriano "Bong" Go was named the new head coach of Presto at the start of the season.
Former Presto coach Baby Dalupan, who was given a new task as team manager, accepted the offer to coach the Purefoods Hotdogs during the second week of April, the "Maestro" left the Gokongwei ballclub he led to five championships from 1984-1987.
After failing to advance in the Open Conference finals and were eliminated in the All-Filipino Conference, Coach Bong Go was replaced by the comebacking Jimmy Mariano, the team's mentor from 1981-1983.
Summary
Open Conference: Presto Ice Cream brought in Walker Russell, a member of the Detroit Pistons that played in the 1988 NBA Finals, as their import. Presto won over Alaska, 118-108, in the first game of the season on March 5. After 10 games in the eliminations, the Flavor Specialist were tied with Formula Shell at second place with an even 5-win, 5-loss card, pick by basketball fans and experts as the team who will challenge the defending champions San Miguel Beermen in the finals, Presto started their semifinal assignment on a high note, handed San Miguel their first defeat in the conference after a 10-game sweep in the eliminations, in a 109-100 victory on April 16, the Flavor Specialist scored their second victory in the semifinals with a 131-124 win over Purefoods Hotdogs on April 18, spoiling the debut of their former coach Baby Dalupan, now calling the shots for the Hotdogs. At the end of the first round of the semifinals, Presto remain tied with Formula Shell with 8 wins and 6 losses, starting the second round, the Flavor Specialist lost three straight games, the last one against Alaska, 102-108 on May 2, puts them out of contention for a finals berth, the Shell Zoom Masters formalized their finals rematch with San Miguel by winning over the Beermen two days after on May 4. Presto were swept in three games by Alaska in their series for third place.
All-Filipino Conference: Unveil a new product and now known as Presto Tivoli in the second conference, after going 2-win, 1-loss, and gave the San Miguel Beermen their first loss in four games in a 113-108 win on June 29, the Tivolis lost all their remaining eight games in the eliminations for a dismal 2-9 won-loss slate.
Reinforced Conference: Import Terrance Bailey debut with 61 points as Presto defeated Añejo Rum, 153-142, in the first game of the Third Conference. The Tivolis won their last two outings in the eliminations for a 5-win, 5-loss card. After Allan Caidic's historic night at the start of the semifinal round on November 2, breaking the record for most points by a local player in a single game, the Tivolis dropped two close matches to Añejo Rum, 143-144 in overtime on November 5, and San Miguel, 148-150 on November 9, but they remain in the running following a 161-153 win against Purefoods on November 12. The Tivolis lost to Alaska, 111-118, at the start of the second round on November 14, with Bailey having an off-night, the high-scoring import was held to only 8 points after partying the whole night before, the loss to the Airmen turn out to be the Tivolis' downfall as they lost all their remaining games in the semifinals.
Notable dates
March 28: Allan Caidic equalled the most points in one quarter (first set by Atoy Co in 1982) by scoring 26 points in the first quarter alone and finish with 42 points to lead Presto Ice Cream to a 123-112 win over Añejo Rum. Import Walker Russell registered his second triple-double of 30 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
April 25: Allan Caidic erupted for a conference-high 45 points while Walker Russell dished out his seventh triple-double performance of 41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to bolster Presto's finals chances in a 143-135 victory over Formula Shell.
October 8: Terrance Bailey scored 73 points in Presto's 157-145 win over Formula Shell.
November 2: Allan Caidic shattered the all-time high scoring mark for locals by erupting with 68 points in Presto's 175-159 victory over Alaska Milk at the start of the Reinforced Conference semifinal round. Caidic reset Atoy Co's record in individual scoring in one quarter by one point as he finished with 27 and became the league's undoubted top three-point gunner with a record 15 triples, breaking Hills Bros' import Jose Slaughter's 14 hits that was registered two years ago, Caidic also tied Ricardo Brown's output of 41 points in a half in an amazing display of markmanship that had the capacity crowd roaring in approval, with Caidic's 15 triples, Presto set an all-time high of 18 three-pointers with Bailey converting two and Bernardo Carpio had one, Terrance Bailey also set an all-time high of 20 assists in that game.
Reinforced Conference roster
Team Manager: Ignacio Gotao