The 1990 Purefoods Hotdogs season was the 3rd season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
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Summary
The Purefoods Hotdogs had a 3-2 won-loss slate when they lost to winless Pop Cola on March 13, prompting Purefoods management to release import Dwayne Johnson. The Hotdogs played their last four games without an import and were fined by the PBA, losing all their matches and were eliminated in the First Conference.
After going two wins and two losses in their first four games in the All-Filipino Conference, with both defeats by a heartbreaker to Alaska Milkmen, 99-100 on Frankie Lim's winning shot on June 17, and Presto Tivoli, 112-115 on June 24. The Hotdogs rode to a five-game winning streak before Alaska Milkmen stop their run with a repeat 123-113 victory on July 19. At the start of the semifinal round, the Hotdogs handed the Presto Tivolis their first loss after going unbeaten in the eliminations. Purefoods won six of their seven games in the semifinals for a return trip to the All-Filipino finals and shoved Presto Tivolis at second place by scoring a 116-107 victory on August 12, with Glenn Capacio hitting 31 points. In the championship series against Presto Tivolis, the Hotdogs were slightly favored to end frustrations and finally win their first title, but the experience Presto lineup defied the odds by taking the crown in a classic, seven-game series as Purefoods ended up bridesmaid for the fourth time.
Former imports Daren Queenan and Walker Russell, who both played last season with Añejo and Presto respectively, were the Hotdogs' reinforcements for the Third Conference. Purefoods started out with four wins without a loss, then dropped three of their next four games. The Purefoods management decided to replace Walker Russell in favor of Robert Paul Rose. The Hotdogs lost to Sarsi in Rose' debut before finally making it to the semifinals with a 130-118 win over Añejo Rum on November 8. Purefoods makes it to the championship round against Alaska Milkmen and won their first PBA title in three years of participation, coming back from a 0-2 overhaul to win the best-of-five finals series, 3 games to 2, sweeping the last three games to become the second team to pull the feat since the famed Crispa Redmanizers in 1976. Coach Baby Dalupan won his 15th league title and the Hotdogs' main man Alvin Patrimonio was voted finals MVP.
Third Conference roster
Assistant coaches: Eliezer Capacio / Cris Calilan Team Manager: Domingo Panganiban