1997 Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys season

The 1997 Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys season was the 10th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team was known as Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies in the Governor's Cup.

Off-season transactions

Occurrences

• 11-year veteran Santiago Cabatu was signed to temporarily replaced Reuben De la Rosa's spot in the lineup during the All-Filipino Cup.
• On July 21, pre-season acquisition Cris Bolado was traded to Gordon's Gin in exchange for Edward Joseph Feihl, who hold out of his contract with the Boars, Feihl began playing for Purefoods in the Governors Cup. ^[2]

Awards

• Alvin Patrimonio won his fourth Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy, tying the record of Ramon Fernandez' four MVPs.

Summary

The Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys won the All-Filipino Cup title at the expense of Gordon's Gin Boars. Coach Eric Altamirano, who replaces Chot Reyes at the start of the season, became the youngest coach to steer his team to a PBA crown.

Purefoods former import Ronnie Grandison return to the team he played with back in 1993, but couldn't lead the Cowboys to victories in the Commissioner's Cup, Grandison was replaced by Mike Jones and the Cowboys were eliminated and placed last.

Another Mike Jones, this time from Rutgers University, played for Purefoods in the Governor's Cup, starting with the Beefies' fourth game after their temporary import Eric Brown fill in for Jones in the first three games. Purefoods advances into the championship series for the second time in the season, winning their best-of-five semifinals against San Miguel Beermen, 3 games to 2. In the finals series against the defending champion Alaska Milkmen, the Carne Norte Beefies won Game one but lost the last four games and settled for a runner-up finish.

Roster

Pos. No. Player School F 1 Bong Ravena UE G 3 Elmer Lago De La Salle F 5 Edmund Reyes UST F 7 Rey Evangelista UST G 8 Genesis Sasuman Letran G 10 Dindo Pumaren De La Salle C 11 EJ Feihl (A) Adamson F 16 Alvin Patrimonio Mapua Tech G 19 Freche Ang Saint La Salle F 23 Reuben Dela Rosa Mapua Tech C 44 Jerry Codinera UE C 55 Sonny Cabatu PSBA F 88 Cadel Mosqueda Arellano University F 20 Ronnie Grandison (C) University of New Orleans F 45 Mike Jones (C) Auburn University G Eric Brown (G) G 24 Mike Jones (G) Rutgers University C 24 Cris Bolado (T) National University Position Name/s Head coach:  Eric Altamirano Assistants: Frankie Lim / Louie Alas / Ryan Gregorio (C) - Commissioner's Cup Import, (G) - Governor's Cup Import, (T) - Traded, (A) - Acquired via trade '

References