2018 MPBL season

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.

2018 MPBL season
Season2018
DatesRegular season:
January 25 – March 17, 2018
Playoffs:
March 20 – April 10, 2018
Finals:
April 12–19, 2018
Number of games45 (regular season)
19 (playoffs)
Number of teams10
TV partner(s)ABS-CBN Sports (S+A)
Regular season
Top seedBatangas City Athletics
Finals
ChampionsBatangas City Athletics
  Runners-upMuntinlupa Cagers
SemifinalistsValenzuela Classic
Parañaque Patriots
Finals MVPVal Acuña
Statistical leaders
Points Gary David 20.45
Rebounds Felix Apreku 11.11
Assists Allan Mangahas 5.28
Records
Biggest home winValenzuela Classic 97–80 Bataan Defenders
(February 8)
Biggest away winImus Bandera 56–74 Batangas City Athletics
(February 10)
Highest scoringMuntinlupa Cagers 103–87 Quezon City Capitals
(February 20)
Winning streakBulacan Kuyas & Batangas City Athletics (6 straight wins each)
Losing streakCaloocan Supremos (5 losses)
All statistics correct as of May 24, 2018.

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.

Teams

The inaugural season featured ten teams, all based in Luzon, with no division alignment.

Arenas
TeamArenaCapacity
Bataan DefendersBataan People's Center4,000
Batangas City AthleticsBatangas City Sports Coliseum4,000
Bulacan KuyasBulacan Capitol Gymnasium5,000
Caloocan SupremosCaloocan Sports Complex3,000
Imus BanderaImus City Sports Complex1,000
Muntinlupa CagersMuntinlupa Sports Center3,000
Navotas ClutchNavotas Sports Complex1,000
Parañaque PatriotsOlivarez College Gymnasium3,500
Quezon City CapitalsJCSGO Seed Dome1,000
Valenzuela ClassicValenzuela Astrodome3,000
Opening ceremoniesSmart Araneta Coliseum25,000

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.

Opening ceremony

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.

Regular season

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 Qualification
1 Batangas City Athletics 9 8 1 .889 Playoffs
2 Bulacan Kuyas 9 6 3 .667[lower-alpha 1]
3 Muntinlupa Cagers 9 6 3 .667[lower-alpha 1]
4 Valenzuela Classic 9 6 3 .667[lower-alpha 1]
5 Quezon City Capitals 9 5 4 .556[lower-alpha 2]
6 Navotas Clutch 9 5 4 .556[lower-alpha 2]
7 Parañaque Patriots 9 4 5 .444
8 Bataan Defenders 9 2 7 .222[lower-alpha 3]
9 Imus Bandera 9 2 7 .222[lower-alpha 3]
10 Caloocan Supremos 9 1 8 .111
Source: Standings
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:
  1. Head-to-head point differential: Bulacan +5, Muntinlupa +1, Valenzuela -6
  2. Head-to-head record: Quezon City 1–0 Navotas
  3. Head-to-head record: Bataan 1–0 Imus

Schedule
Team ╲ Game123456789
BataanQCCBTGVALCALIMSNAVPARMUNBUL
BatangasVALBANIMSNAVPARMUNBULQCCCAL
BulacanIMSNAVPARMUNCALQCCBTGVALBAN
CaloocanPARVALMUNBANBULIMSQCCNAVBTG
ImusBULQCCBTGVALBANCALNAVPARMUN
MuntinlupaNAVPARCALBULQCCBTGVALBANIMS
NavotasMUNBULQCCBTGVALBANIMSCALPAR
ParañaqueCALMUNBULQCCBTGVALBANIMSNAV
Quezon CityBANIMSNAVPARMUNBULCALBTGVAL
ValenzuelaBTGCALBANIMSNAVPARMUNBULQCC
Source: Schedule
  = Win;   = OT win;   = Loss;   = OT loss

Results
Team BAN BTG BUL CAL IMS MUN NAV PAR QCC 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 — — — — — — — — —
Source: Schedule
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.

Playoffs
Main article: 2018 MPBL playoffs

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
Main article: 2018 MPBL 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 3Game 4Game 5
(1) Batangas City Athletics 3–1 (2) Muntinlupa Cagers 70–64 78–74 77–8268–66—

Records
  • 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.

Statistics

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
CategoryPlayerTeamStatistic
PointsGary DavidBataan Defenders29
ReboundsGian AbrigoQuezon City Capitals20
AssistsPaolo HubaldeValenzuela Classic14
Steals6 tiedMultiple Teams4
BlocksJayson GrimaldoBatangas City Athletics5
Jeff MorilloQuezon City Capitals
Three-pointersVal AcuñaBatangas City Athletics7

Team statistic leaders (regular season)
CategoryTeamStatistic
Points per gameBulacan Kuyas83.6
Rebounds per gameQuezon City Capitals49.0
Assists per gameBulacan Kuyas22.2
Steals per gameMuntinlupa Cagers9.0
Blocks per gameBulacan Kuyas6.6
Turnovers per gameBataan Defenders18.4
Fouls per gameImus Bandera20.8
FG%Bulacan Kuyas45.39%
FT%Batangas City Athletics70.63%
3FG%Valenzuela Classic35.07%
+/−Batangas City Athletics+8.3

Media

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]

References
  1. "MPBL lalarga ngayon" [MPBL rolls of today]. Pang-Masa (in Filipino). January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  2. Jurado, Theodore (January 22, 2018). "10 teams vying in MPBL". Journal Online. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  3. "Grassroots Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League tips off on ABS-CBN S+A". ABS-CBN News. January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.


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