Manila Stars
The Manila Stars are a Filipino professional basketball team based in Manila. The team primarily competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as one of 11 teams based in Metro Manila. It is also the league where the team first played, during the 2018–19 MPBL season.
| Manila Stars | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | MPBL (2018–present) PSL (2022–present) |
| Founded | 2018 |
| History | MPBL: Manila Stars (2018–present) PSL: Manila City Stars (2022–present) |
| Arena | San Andres Sports Complex |
| Location | Manila |
| Team colors | |
| Main sponsor | 747 Sports |
| Head coach | Tylon Darjuan |
The team also competes under the name Manila CityStars in the Pilipinas Super League. The CityStars began play in the PSL during the 2022–23 DUMPER Cup.
The Stars/CityStars play their home games at San Andres Sports Complex.
History
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
The nation's capital joined the MPBL for the 2018–19 season, and in its first season, made an instant impact. The team finished 20–5, tying with San Juan and Davao Occidental for the league's third-best record, as the Stars clinch the fourth seed in the 2019 playoffs. After getting past Caloocan in the First Round, they met with the league-leading Bataan Risers in the North Division Semifinals. Although Bataan won game 1, Manila pushed through the next two games to finish the upset and advance to the North Division Finals against San Juan. The series went in a similar way but in the opposite manner, as Manila won game 1 but with San Juan winning the next two to advance to the National Finals and eventually win the championship.
Manila came back stronger for the 2019–20 season, finishing 25–5, clinching the second seed in the 2020 playoffs. The team first beat Pasig in the First Round, but feel short in the Division Semifinals against Makati. Once again, Manila won game 1, yet Makati won the rest of the series.
For the 2021 Invitational, Manila tapped Cholo Villanueva as their head coach, but only finished third in Group D, failing to make the playoffs. Villanueva would later depart for the Batangas City Embassy Chill.[1]
In 2022, the team missed the playoffs for the first time, only getting six wins out of 21 games in the season, finishing 10th of 11 in the North.
Pilipinas Super League
The Stars came to the PSL for the 2022 DUMPER Cup during the MPBL's off-season. Finishing 9–6 in the conference, Manila tied with Boracay and Bulacan for seventh. The team managed to settle for eighth but lost to the San Juan Kings in the Quarterfinals.
Team identity
The name can be traced back to the Manila Metrostars of the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association. Despite that, the Stars don't share any history with the former team as opposed to the likes of Pasig, San Juan, and SocSarGen / Sarangani.
The logo of the Stars features silhouettes of some of Manila's historic landmarks, such as the Rizal Monument and Manila Cathedral.
Manila's color scheme has always used blue as the primary color. The secondary color has varied overtime: orange from 2018 to 2019, red from 2019 to 2023, and green since 2023.
Current roster
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Head coaches
| 2018–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Start | End | Regular Season | Playoffs | Best Finish | Achievements | ||||||
| GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | ||||||
| 1 | Philip Cezar | 2018 | 2019 | 25 | 20 | 5 | .800 | 8 | 5 | 3 | .625 | Divisional Finals | |
| 2 | Tino Pinat | 2019 | 2021 | 30 | 25 | 5 | .833 | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | Division Semifinals | |
| 3 | Cholo Villanueva | 6 | 3 | 2 | .600 | – | |||||||
Notable players
| Manila Stars notable players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Tenure | Awards | All-Star |
| Chris Bitoon | 2018–2020 | 1x All-MPBL First Team (2019) 1x All-MPBL Second Team (2020) | 1 (2019) | |
| Aris Dionisio | 2018–2020 | 1x Defensive Player of the Year (2019) 1x All-MPBL First Team (2019) 1x All-MPBL Second Team (2020) | 2 (2019, 2020) | |
| Ronnie Matias | 2022 | — | 1 (2022) | |
Season-by-season records
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
- Records as of 2023 MPBL season:
| Season | Team name | Elimination round | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | |||
| 2018–19 Datu Cup | Manila Stars | North | 4th/13 | 20 | 5 | .800 | First Round Division Semifinals Division Finals | won vs. Bulacan, 2–0 won vs. Bataan, 2–1 lost vs. San Juan, 1–2 | |
| 2019–20 Lakan Cup | 2nd/16 | 25 | 5 | .833 | First Round Division Semifinals | won vs. Pasig, 2–0 lost vs. Makati, 1–2 | |||
| 2022 Mumbaki Cup | 10th/11 | 6 | 15 | .286 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2023 | 13th/15 | 4 | 23 | .148 | Did not qualify | ||||
| Total elimination round | 55 | 48 | .534 | 2 playoff appearances | |||||
| Total playoffs | 8 | 5 | .615 | 0 Finals appearances | |||||
| Total franchise | 63 | 53 | .543 | 0 championships | |||||
Invitational records
| Season | Team name | Elimination round | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | |||
| 2021 | Manila Stars | Group D | 3rd/6 | 3 | 2 | .600 | Did not qualify | ||
| Total elimination round | 3 | 2 | .600 | 0 playoff appearances | |||||
| Total playoffs | 0 | 0 | – | 0 Finals appearances | |||||
| Total franchise | 3 | 2 | .600 | 0 championships | |||||
Pilipinas Super League
- Records as of 2022–23 DUMPER Cup:
| Season | Team name | Elimination round | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | |||
| 2022–23 DUMPER Cup | Manila City Stars | None | 8th/16 | 9 | 6 | .600 | Quarterfinals | lost vs. San Juan, 0–1 | |
| 2023–24 President's Cup | To be determined | ||||||||
| Total elimination round | 9 | 6 | .600 | 1 playoff appearance | |||||
| Total playoffs | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 Finals appearances | |||||
| Total franchise | 9 | 7 | .563 | 0 championships | |||||
References
- "Cholo Villanueva is the new Manila coach in MPBL". ABS-CBN News. November 24, 2021.
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