1996 Sta. Lucia Realtors season

The 1996 Sta. Lucia Realtors season was the fourth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Off-season transactions

Summary

All-Filipino Cup: Assistant coach Adonis Tierra takes over from Nat Canson at the start of the season. The Realtors fell short of a semifinal stint as they finish with six wins and eight losses. Sta.Lucia lost to Formula Shell, 76-81 in their last game in the eliminations on April 16, they failed to create a tie with Ginebra, which booked its first semifinal appearances in three years.

Commissioner's Cup: Import Melvin Simon led Sta.Lucia to five straight wins without a loss, the Realtors beat Sunkist, 74-73 in the opening game on June 14, ^[1] San Miguel, 79-77 in Dagupan City on June 20, ^[2] followed by wins over Mobiline, 75-73, Shell, 93-90 in overtime, ^{[3] [4]} and Purefoods, 99-95, for their best start in franchise history. ^[5] The Realtors then lost three straight games and Simon was replaced by Eldridge Hudson, who played five games. In the semifinal round, the Realtors lost two of their first three outings and Hudson was sent home and Sta.Lucia had their third reinforcement James Hodges, who scored 30 points in his debut but the Realtors still lost to importless Alaska Milkmen, 86-89 on August 11. Hodges played six games for the Realtors which placed third in the Conference.

Governors Cup: Sta.Lucia won their first game against Purefoods, 76-73 in overtime on October 1, playing without an import in the second half as coach Adonis Tierra benched Tyrone Grandberry midway in the second quarter for lackluster play. ^[6] Grandberry goes down in league history as one of the imports to have the shortest stint, he played for only 15 minutes and scored four points and was replaced immediately in the Realtors' next game. Resident import Lambert Shell is on his fourth duty in the last four years with the Realtors. On October 26, Jun Limpot scored a personal-high 41 points to lead the Realtors to a 95-93 win over Sunkist in Bacolod City. ^[7] Sta.Lucia were tied with Purefoods and Sunkist with five wins and six losses, the Realtors lost to Purefoods in a sudden-death playoff, 76-81 on November 17.

Roster

Pos. No. Player School F 3 Chris Jackson San Bernardino G 6 Johnedel Cardel De La Salle G 8 Roberto Jabar South Western University F 9 Ludovico Valenciano University of St.La Salle G 10 Boyet Fernandez University of San Agustin G 12 Jose Francisco FEU G 14 Gerald Esplana FEU C 15 Expedito Falcasantos Cebu Central Colleges F 16 Dennis Espino UST C 18 Arnold Gamboa FEU F 26 Alejandro De Guzman FEU F 27 Melchor Teves San Sebastian F 57 Romeo Dela Rosa South Western University C 72 Zandro Limpot De La Salle G Matthew Makalintal Saint Benilde F 34 Melvin Simon (C) University of New Orleans F 33 Eldridge Hudson (C) University of Nevada, Las Vegas F James Hodges (C) University of Wisconsin G Tyrone Grandberry (G) G 42 Lambert Shell (G) University of Bridgeport Position Name/s Head coach:  Adonis Tierra Assistants: Ricardo Cui / Joshua Villapando (C) - Commissioners Cup Import, (G) - Governors Cup Import '

_{Team Manager: Buddy Encarnado}

References