75 57 63 55 Duration October 24–26, 2011 | 57 2 55 0 | |
Host school University of Perpetual Help System DALTA | ||
The basketball tournaments of NCAA Season 87 are the Philippines' National Collegiate Athletic Association tournaments for basketball in its 2011–12 season. University of Perpetual Help System DALTA hosted the season, starting with an opening ceremony held on July 2, 2011 followed by a triple-header game. Games then are subsequently being held at Filoil Flying V Arena, with seniors' games on Wednesdays, Fridays and select Monday games aired by Studio 23.
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In the seniors' tournament, the San Beda Red Lions successfully defended their championship, sweeping the San Sebastian Stags in a rematch of the last two championship series. Both teams started undefeated, with San Sebastian winning the first round finale against the Red Lions, finally ending San Beda's league record 26-game winning streak. The Stags extended their winning streak to 15 games until they were defeated by the Letran Knights. The Red Lions, after being beaten by the JRU Heavy Bombers, ended the second round with a six-game winning run. They beat San Sebastian in the last elimination round game to force a playoff for the first seed, a game they subsequently won. The Red Lions then met JRU in the semifinals, which also had their own six-game winning run after a 3–9 start. The Red Lions won, advancing to the finals for the sixth consecutive year. The Stags and the Knights met in the other semifinal, where the Knights extended the series to a deciding game; the Stags won on Game 2 to qualify for the finals anew. In the Finals, San Beda won Game 1 convincingly, while the Stags missed on a chance to force overtime on Game 2 to give San Beda their second consecutive title. Dave Marcelo was named the Finals MVP.
In the juniors' tournament, the San Beda Red Cubs won all 18 elimination round games to qualify outright to the finals with the thrice to beat advantage. The EAC-ICA Brigadiers, a team under probation, qualified for their first NCAA playoff appearance; they were beaten in the first round of the stepladder series by the La Salle Green Hills Greenies to face the Letran Squires in the next round. The Greenies led for much of the game until they quelled an end-game rally by Letran to clinch the school's first NCAA finals berth. The Greenies prevented a Red Cubs season sweep, winning Game 1 of the finals.
Preseason
The San Sebastian Stags announced that their former coach Turo Valenzona had been named as their new head coach, four months after Ato Agustin left to coach the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association. Valenzona had previously coached the Stags in the 1990s, winning four consecutive championships from 1993 to 1996, with the 1996 season finishing undefeated. Valenzona would be the league's oldest head coach at 68 years old.
Paul Nuilan and Marlon Gomez, the two players from the UPHSD Altas who were not allowed to play last year, were cleared to play this season. This gave coach Boris Aldeguer optimism for the upcoming season.
In the preseason tournaments, defending champions San Beda Red Lions were defeated by the UAAP champions Ateneo Blue Eagles in the final of the Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Cup 75–56. The Red Cubs defeated the Philippines under-16 basketball team 79–70 to win the juniors event, with Francis Abarcar being named most valuable player. San Beda's Garvo Lanete and Yousef Taha of the Mapúa Cardinals were named members of the mythical team. In the Father Martin Cup, Mapua was defeated by the NU Bulldogs of the UAAP in the seniors' final, 87–83 in overtime.
The league announced a partnership with SM Supermalls in marketing the league; next season's basketball tournaments are to be held at the yet-to-be-finished SM Arena, as the arena is accessible to most of the member schools. Also, in an effort to "go green", the league announced that the tickets used for the basketball tournaments will be produced under an environment-friendly system. The creation of ticket-on-demand system prevents the accumulation of unsold tickets that are stored every year, and reduces the amount of paper used.
The UPHSD Altas announced on June 27 that head coach Boris Aldeguer resigned. While no reason was given, sources of the Philippine Daily Inquirer stated that the non-inclusion of a UPHSD player by the NCAA board was the cause of his resignation. Aldeguer's assistant Jimwell Gican was named as the new head coach. While the NCAA board allowed UPHSD player Marlon Gomez to play after sitting out last season to residency, UPHSD president Anthony Tamayo announced that he will not be entered during the games; this also came after the board disallowed another player, Paul Nuilan, who allegedly misrepresented documents on his transfer from Far Eastern University to Letran to Perpetual. Gomez was almost cleared to play for Perpetual in 2010 until JRU showed documents that he had enrolled there after transferring from Philippine Christian University.
The San Sebastian Stags announced that head coach Turo Valenzona was elevated as team consultant, while Topex Robinson was named as the new head coach days prior to the opening. Robinson was Valenzona's player during San Sebastian's 1996 title run and won another title with the Stags in 1997 before turning professional.
Seniors' tournament
The seniors' tournaments began on July 2, 2011 after the opening ceremonies at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City. Thereafter, the rest of the first round games are currently held at the Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan.