Pampanga Giant Lanterns
The Pampanga Giant Lanterns, also known as Pampanga Giant Lanterns – AMG3 Construction for sponsorship reasons, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the province of Pampanga. The team currently competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as one of four active teams based in the Central Luzon region, playing their home games at Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando.
Pampanga Giant Lanterns | |
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League | MPBL (2018–present) PSL (2022–2023) |
Founded | 2018 |
History | MPBL: Pampanga Lanterns (2018–2019) Pampanga Giant Lanterns (2019–present) PSL: Pampanga G Lanterns (2022–2023) |
Arena | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center |
Location | Pampanga |
Team colors | |
Main sponsor | ADG Group of Companies |
Head coach |
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Championships | PSL: 1 (2022 DUMPER) |
The team began play in the 2018–19 season. The team has also played in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL).
The team is owned by the Provincial Government of Pampanga.
History
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
Pampanga first joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as one of sixteen expansion teams for the 2018–19 season. The team first played their home games at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City. The team tied with the Caloocan Supremos for the 8th seed in the playoffs, as both teams share a record of 11–14. The latter got ahead of Pampanga due to the head-to-head tiebreaker, causing the Lanterns to miss the playoffs.
Playoff hopes for Pampanga didn't stop there, as in the 2019–20 season, the team moved up to 4th with a record of 21–9, giving them their first playoff appearance. In the playoffs, the team first met with their Central Luzon neighbor Bataan Risers in the First Round, in which Pampanga beat in two games. Afterwards, they met the defending champion San Juan Knights in the Division Semifinals, where San Juan would beat Pampanga in two games.
The 2022 season saw an arena change for Pampanga, moving from Angeles City to San Fernando, where they now play at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center. That season also saw Pampanga finish 4th, with a record of 14–7. Once again, the team met Bataan in the First Round, but this time, Bataan won game 2 in overtime to force a third game. Even then, Pampanga beat Bataan in game 3 to once again advance to the Division Semifinals. They then met another Central Luzon neighbor, this time being the undefeatedd Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, in which Nueva Ecija would sweep Pampanga out of the playoffs once again. Archie Concepcion would also win the Homegrown Player of the Year award that season.
In the 2023 season, Pampanga was coming off their 2022 PSL DUMPER Cup championship with their star player in Justine Baltazar. During the season, the team acquired former Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters player Encho Serrano,[1] which helped the team catapult to a league-leading 26–2 record, only losing to Batangas City and Makati during the regular season. The 26 wins is tied for the most wins in a single season in the MPBL, together with San Juan and Davao Occidental in 2020. Right before the playoffs, the team acquired 9-time PBA champion Arwind Santos.[2] Both Serrano and Santos were listed as part of the roster before the season started, but were only able to play later on.
Pilipinas Super League
Between the 2022 and 2023 MPBL seasons, the Pampanga Giant Lanterns franchise made its way to the Pilipinas Super League for the 2022 DUMPER Cup. It was at that time in which homegrown big man Justine Baltazar made his arrival to the team in December. The team finished with a 10–5 record, ending up in a three-way tie between them, Santa Rosa, and Caloocan. In the head-to-head tiebreaker, Pampanga finished ahead of both teams, claiming the 4th seed in the playoffs. Pampanga beat Santa Rosa and undefeated San Juan on their way to the Finals against the Davao Occidental Tigers. Pampanga went on to beat Davao Occidental in two games to clinch their first-ever championship in franchise history.
Team identity
The team is named after the Giant Lantern Festival which takes place in San Fernando, Pampanga.[3] The word "giant" wasn't originally in the team's name, as they were simply called the Pampanga Lanterns for their inaugural MPBL season. Once the 2019–20 season started, the team was renamed into its current form: the Pampanga Giant Lanterns. During its PSL stint, the team's name was shortened to the Pampanga G Lanterns.
Orange has always been a prominent color for the Pampanga franchise. Since its PSL stint, blue has also become a prominent color, mainly on the team's home jersey.
Current roster
Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Head coaches
2018–present | |||||||||||||
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# | Name | Start | End | Regular Season | Playoffs | Best Finish | Achievements | ||||||
GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | ||||||
1 | Isaiah Duenas Aldrin Morante |
2018 | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||
2 | Bong Ramos | 2019 | 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||
3 | Jordan Viray | 2022 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
Notable players
Pampanga Giant Lanterns notable players | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Position | Tenure | Awards | All-Star |
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League | ||||
Levi Hernandez | 2018–2020 | — | 1 (2019) | |
Michael Juico | 2018–2020 | — | 1 (2020) | |
Archie Concepcion | 2022–present | 1x Homegrown Player of the Year (2022) | 1 (2022) | |
Justine Baltazar | 2023–present | — | 1 (2023) | |
Encho Serrano | 2023–present | — | 1 (2023) |
Season-by-season records
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
Season | Team name | Elimination round | Playoffs | |||||
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Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | ||
2018–19 Datu Cup | Pampanga Lanterns | North | 9th/13 | 11 | 14 | .440 | Did not qualify | |
2019–20 Lakan Cup | Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 4th/16 | 21 | 9 | .700 | First Round Division Semifinals | won vs. Bataan, 2–0 lost vs. San Juan, 0–2 | |
2022 Mumbaki Cup | 4th/11 | 14 | 7 | .667 | First Round Division Semifinals | won vs. Bataan, 2–1 lost vs. Nueva Ecija, 0–2 | ||
2023 | 1st/15 | 26 | 2 | .929 | First Round Division Semifinals | won vs. Marikina, 2–0 TBD vs. Caloocan, 0–0 | ||
Total elimination round | 72 | 32 | .692 | 2 playoff appearances | ||||
Total playoffs | 6 | 5 | .545 | 0 Finals appearances | ||||
Total franchise | 78 | 37 | .678 | 0 championships |
Pilipinas Super League
- Records as of 2022–23 DUMPER Cup:
Season | Team name | Elimination round | Playoffs | ||||||
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Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | |||
2022–23 DUMPER Cup | Pampanga G Lanterns | None | 4th/16 | 10 | 5 | .667 | Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals | won vs. Santa Rosa, 1–0 won vs. San Juan, 2–0 won vs. Davao Occidental, 2–0 | |
Total elimination round | 10 | 5 | .733 | 1 playoff appearance | |||||
Total playoffs | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 Finals appearance | |||||
Total franchise | 15 | 5 | .800 | 1 championship |
References
- Li, Matthew (May 23, 2023). "Encho Serrano leaves PBA's Phoenix, set to sign with MPBL's Pampanga". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- "Arwind Santos joins Pampanga in time for Giant Lanterns' MPBL playoff run". Spin.ph. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- Joble, Rey. "MPBL: Anybody wants to know what Pampanga's moniker is?". FoxSports. Retrieved May 24, 2018.