2018_MPBL_Anta_Rajah_Cup
2018 MPBL season
Inaugural season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
The 2018 MPBL season, also known as the MPBL Rajah Cup or the MPBL Anta–Rajah Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the inaugural season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. The regular season began on January 25, 2018 and ended on March 17, 2018. The playoffs began on March 20, 2018 and ended on April 19, 2018. The inaugural season featured ten teams, all based in Luzon, making it the only season to not have divisions nor feature teams from Visayas or Mindanao.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2018) |
| 2018 MPBL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | Regular season: January 25 – March 17, 2018 Playoffs: March 20 – April 10, 2018 Finals: April 12–19, 2018 |
| Number of games | 45 (regular season) 19 (playoffs) |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| TV partner(s) | ABS-CBN Sports (S+A) |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | Batangas City Athletics |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Batangas City Athletics |
| Runners-up | Muntinlupa Cagers |
| Finals MVP | Val Acuña (Batangas City) |
| MPBL seasons | |
The opening ceremony took place at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, followed by the inaugural game between the Parañaque Patriots and the Caloocan Supremos.[1] This season featured 10 teams, the smallest the league has been since.
The Batangas City Athletics were crowned the 2018 MPBL champions, after defeating the Muntinlupa Cagers in the 2018 MPBL Rajah Cup Finals, three games to one.
The inaugural season featured ten teams, all based in Luzon, with no division alignment.
Arenas
| Team | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Bataan Defenders | Bataan People's Center | 4,000 |
| Batangas City Athletics | Batangas City Sports Coliseum | 4,000 |
| Bulacan Kuyas | Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium | 5,000 |
| Caloocan Supremos | Caloocan Sports Complex | 3,000 |
| Imus Bandera | Imus City Sports Complex | 1,000 |
| Muntinlupa Cagers | Muntinlupa Sports Center | 3,000 |
| Navotas Clutch | Navotas Sports Complex | 1,000 |
| Parañaque Patriots | Olivarez College Gymnasium | 3,500 |
| Quezon City Capitals | JCSGO Seed Dome | 1,000 |
| Valenzuela Classic | Valenzuela Astrodome | 3,000 |
| Opening ceremonies | Smart Araneta Coliseum | 25,000 |
Roster regulations
Since the MPBL was a semi-professional league at the time, its initial set of roster regulations are made to help promote local talents:
- Teams are required to sign three homegrown players into the roster. These players must be native to the locality in which the team is based in.
- A limit of five ex-professional (or ex-pro) players is placed on each team. Any player who has had experience in professional basketball is considered an ex-professional player.
On January 25, 2018, the league held the opening ceremonies at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. It featured the inaugural game which saw the Parañaque Patriots beating the Caloocan Supremos with a score of 70–60. Daniel San Juan de Guzman of the Parañaque Patriots made the league's first basket in that game.
Format
The ten teams played in a single round-robin format, playing one game against all other teams in the league. In each gameday, a series of games is played in a designated home arena, with the home team usually playing in the final game.
The top eight teams overall advanced to a three-round, single-elimination playoffs, playing in best-of-three series in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals, and a best-of-five series in the Finals, with homecourt advantage alternating between the higher seeds of each series (excluding the Finals). [2]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Batangas City Athletics | 9 | 8 | 1 | .889 | — | Playoffs |
| 2 | Bulacan Kuyas | 9 | 6 | 3 | .667[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | |
| 3 | Muntinlupa Cagers | 9 | 6 | 3 | .667[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | |
| 4 | Valenzuela Classic | 9 | 6 | 3 | .667[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | |
| 5 | Quezon City Capitals | 9 | 5 | 4 | .556[lower-alpha 2] | 3 | |
| 6 | Navotas Clutch | 9 | 5 | 4 | .556[lower-alpha 2] | 3 | |
| 7 | Parañaque Patriots | 9 | 4 | 5 | .444 | 4 | |
| 8 | Bataan Defenders | 9 | 2 | 7 | .222[lower-alpha 3] | 6 | |
| 9 | Imus Bandera | 9 | 2 | 7 | .222[lower-alpha 3] | 6 | |
| 10 | Caloocan Supremos | 9 | 1 | 8 | .111 | 7 |
Rules for classification: 1) Win percentage; 2) Head-to-head record; 3) Head-to-head point differential; 4) Head-to-head points scored; 5) Overall point differential; 6) Overall points scored.
Notes:
Schedule
- Bold indicates home game; Italics indicate away game
| Team ╲ Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bataan | QC | BTG | VAL | CAL | IMS | NAV | PAR | MUN | BUL |
| Batangas | VAL | BAN | IMS | NAV | PAR | MUN | BUL | QC | CAL |
| Bulacan | IMS | NAV | PAR | MUN | CAL | QC | BTG | VAL | BAN |
| Caloocan | PAR | VAL | MUN | BAN | BUL | IMS | QC | NAV | BTG |
| Imus | BUL | QC | BTG | VAL | BAN | CAL | NAV | PAR | MUN |
| Muntinlupa | NAV | PAR | CAL | BUL | QC | BTG | VAL | BAN | IMS |
| Navotas | MUN | BUL | QC | BTG | VAL | BAN | IMS | CAL | PAR |
| Parañaque | CAL | MUN | BUL | QC | BTG | VAL | BAN | IMS | NAV |
| Quezon City | BAN | IMS | NAV | PAR | MUN | BUL | CAL | BTG | VAL |
| Valenzuela | BTG | CAL | BAN | IMS | NAV | PAR | MUN | BUL | QC |
Results
| Team | BAN | BTG | BUL | CAL | IMS | MUN | NAV | PAR | QC | VAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bataan | 73–88 | 74–81 | 69–76 | 91–87 | 78–87 | 96–88 | 71–74 | 69–87 | 80–97 | |
| Batangas | 72–80 | 86–75 | 74–56 | 82–77 | 80–71 | 87–79* | 77–68 | 73–65 | ||
| Bulacan | 92–74 | 93–79 | 71–75 | 76–77* | 72–74 | 95–81 | 92–83 | |||
| Caloocan | 61–70 | 76–89 | 56–66 | 60–70 | 89–90 | 78–79 | ||||
| Imus | 69–81 | 70–67 | 77–78 | 75–84 | 77–81 | |||||
| Muntinlupa | 76–82 | 67–60 | 103–87 | 80–83 | ||||||
| Navotas | 78–74 | 78–87 | 82–77 | |||||||
| Parañaque | 54–64 | 75–80 | ||||||||
| Quezon City | 79–84 | |||||||||
| Valenzuela |
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Red = top row team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.
Not all games are in home–away format. Each team plays every team once. Number of asterisks after each score denotes number of overtimes played.
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its division, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. Teams with home court advantage, the higher seeded team, are shown in italics.
| Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-5) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Batangas City | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Bataan | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Batangas City | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Valenzuela | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Valenzuela | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Quezon City | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Batangas City | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Muntinlupa | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Bulacan | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Parañaque | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Parañaque | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Muntinlupa | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Muntinlupa | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Navotas | 0 | ||||||||||||
Quarterfinals
In the Quarterfinals, the first- and second-seeded teams host games 1 and 3, while the third- and fourth-seeded teams host game 2.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) Batangas City Athletics | 2–0 | (8) Bataan Defenders | 88–75 | 95–82 | — |
| (2) Bulacan Kuyas | 1–2 | (7) Parañaque Patriots | 83–73 | 54–81 | 70–77 |
| (3) Muntinlupa Cagers | 2–0 | (6) Navotas Clutch | 83–77 | 72–69 | — |
| (4) Valenzuela Classic | 2–1 | (5) Quezon City Capitals | 96–89 | 68–76 | 74–72 |
Semifinals
In the Semifinals, the highest seeded team hosts games 1 and 3, while the second-highest seeded team hosts game 2.
Due to Batangas City advancing after game 2, Muntinlupa instead hosted game 3.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) Batangas City Athletics | 2–0 | (4) Valenzuela Classic | 80–75 | 89–64 | — |
| (2) Muntinlupa Cagers | 2–1 | (7) Parañaque Patriots | 59–84 | 66–56 | 81–70 |
Finals
In the MPBL Finals, the higher-seeded team hosts games 1, 2, and 5, while the lower-seeded team hosts games 3 and 4.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) Batangas City Athletics | 3–1 | (2) Muntinlupa Cagers | 70–64 | 78–74 | 77–82 | 68–66 | — |
- On February 20, 2018, The Muntinlupa Cagers became the first team in league history to score at least 100 points in a single game, doing so against the Quezon City Capitals. It was also the only such occurrence throughout the entire season.
Individual statistic leaders
| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points per game | Gary David | Bataan Defenders | 34.4 |
| Rebounds per game | Felix Apreku | Muntinlupa Cagers | 11.1 |
| Assists per game | Allan Mangahas | Muntinlupa Cagers | 5.3 |
| Steals per game | Allan Mangahas | Muntinlupa Cagers | 1.78 |
| Blocks per game | Jay Collado | Quezon City Capitals | 1.92 |
| Turnovers per game | Chestern Ian Melencio | Imus Bandera | 3.44 |
| Fouls per game | Daniel De Guzman | Parañaque Patriots | 3.64 |
| Minutes per game | Harold Miguel Arboleda | Parañaque Patriots | 33.2 |
| FG% | Mark San Jose | Parañaque Patriots | 100.0% |
| FT% | 10 tied | Multiple Teams | 100.0% |
| 3FG% | 2 tied | Multiple Teams | 100.0% |
| Double-doubles | Felix Apreku | Muntinlupa Cagers | 6 |
| Harold Miguel Arboleda | Parañaque Patriots | ||
| Triple-doubles | Andrew Estrella | Quezon City Capitals | 1 |
Individual game highs
| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Gary David | Bataan Defenders | 29 |
| Rebounds | Gian Abrigo | Quezon City Capitals | 20 |
| Assists | Paolo Hubalde | Valenzuela Classic | 14 |
| Steals | 6 tied | Multiple Teams | 4 |
| Blocks | Jayson Grimaldo | Batangas City Athletics | 5 |
| Jeff Morillo | Quezon City Capitals | ||
| Three-pointers | Val Acuña | Batangas City Athletics | 7 |
Team statistic leaders (regular season)
| Category | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | Bulacan Kuyas | 83.6 |
| Rebounds per game | Quezon City Capitals | 49.0 |
| Assists per game | Bulacan Kuyas | 22.2 |
| Steals per game | Muntinlupa Cagers | 9.0 |
| Blocks per game | Bulacan Kuyas | 6.6 |
| Turnovers per game | Bataan Defenders | 18.4 |
| Fouls per game | Imus Bandera | 20.8 |
| FG% | Bulacan Kuyas | 45.39% |
| FT% | Batangas City Athletics | 70.63% |
| 3FG% | Valenzuela Classic | 35.07% |
| +/− | Batangas City Athletics | +8.3 |
This season marked the first of three years of ABS-CBN's broadcast rights with the league. Games were aired on the S+A channel in both SD and HD quality.[3]
- "MPBL lalarga ngayon" [MPBL rolls of today]. Pang-Masa (in Filipino). January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- Jurado, Theodore (January 22, 2018). "10 teams vying in MPBL". Journal Online. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- "Grassroots Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League tips off on ABS-CBN S+A". ABS-CBN News. January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.