1998 Alaska Milkmen season

The 1998 Alaska Milkmen season was the 13th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Awards

• Kenneth Duremdes won the season's Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy.
• MVP winner Kenneth Duremdes, along with Johnny Abarrientos and Jojo Lastimosa, were named in the Mythical first team.
• Devin Davis was voted the Commissioner's Cup Best Import.

Summary

Alaska won two championships during the season and on a quest for another Grandslam. In the All-Filipino Cup, the Milkmen won their first five games of the season. ^[1] They emerge with the best record in the elimination round with nine wins and two losses. In the semifinals, the San Miguel Beermen overtake Alaska and took the first finals seat. The Milkmen had to beat Sta.Lucia Realtors, 77-69, in their playoff game on April 21 for the right to face San Miguel in the finals. The best-of-seven title series features a duel of two American coaches; Tim Cone and Ron Jacobs. Alaska prevailed over San Miguel in seven games to repeat as champions and regain the All-Filipino crown.

Sean Chambers led Alaska to three straight wins in the Commissioners Cup, the Milkmen won over Mobiline, 85-64, on May 23 in Urdaneta, Pangasinan. They scored a 101-69 victory over San Miguel on May 26 in an early clash between the two teams that played in the All-Filipino Cup finals. Alaska's third victory was a come-from-behind 79-78 win over Pop Cola on May 31 as they await the arrival of their import choice Devin Davis. On June 2, Davis scored 24 points in his first game as Alaska defeated Ginebra, 89-80. The Milkmen were unbeaten in eight starts before losing back-to-back games to Mobiline and San Miguel. Alaska advances outright in the best-of-five semifinals and they battled the Formula Shell Zoom Masters and won the series, three games to two, to reach the finals for the 12th time in the last 13 conferences.

In the championship rematch against San Miguel Beermen, the Milkmen took a commanding 2-0 lead and while the Beermen fought back to tie the series, the Milkmen came through with convincing victories in the last two games to clinch their 9th PBA title as they now tied the defunct Toyota ballclub as the third winningest team in the league.

Coach Tim Cone, who was task to handle the Philippine Centennial Team in the Asian Games, will not be on the Alaska bench starting the special conference called Centennial Cup, along with national team players Johnny Abarrientos, Jojo Lastimosa and Kenneth Duremdes. Alaska players Gilbert Reyes and Richard Bachmann were interim coaches during the Centennial Cup and Governor's Cup. The Milkmen signed three returning players; Joey Loyzaga, Albert David and Joseph Valdez. Their imports were Sean Chambers, who was playing in his 14th conference, and Monty Buckley. Alaska had an even four wins and four losses in the Centennial Cup, they could only win twice in seven outings in the Governors Cup and were eliminated and ended their hopes for a second Grandslam.

Roster

Pos. No. Player School F 4 Braulio Lim (A) UE G 5 Gilbert Reyes, Jr Ateneo de Manila G 6 Jojo Lastimosa San Jose-Recoletos G 7 Rodesendo Gomez Cebu Central Colleges F 9 Rodney Santos San Sebastian C 12 Richard Bachmann De La Salle G 14 Johnny Abarrientos FEU F 15 Alberto David Letran F 16 Rene Hawkins, Jr Perpetual Help College F 17 Kevin Ramas Mapua Tech F 19 Kenneth Duremdes Adamson C 32 Edward Juinio UP-Diliman G 41 Joey Loyzaga San Beda C 91 Joseph Valdez Adamson C 42 Devin Davis (C) Miami University F 20 Sean Chambers (C/G) California Polytechnic State University F 3 Monty Buckley (G) University of California-Berkeley Position Name/s Head coach:  Tim Cone Assistants: Richard Bachmann / Gilbert Reyes (C) - Commissioners Cup Import, (G) - Governors Cup Import, (A) - Acquired from Mobiline '

_{Team Manager: Joaquin Trillo}

References