1985 Manila Beer Brewmasters season

The 1985 Manila Beer Brewmasters season was the 2nd season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Off-season transactions

Occurrences

Head coach Loreto Carbonell was replaced by fellow Olympian Edgardo Ocampo as Manila Beer coach beginning the All-Filipino Conference. Carbonell remains on the bench as the assistant coach.

On September 25, two-time MVP Ramon Fernandez was sent by Manila Beer to Tanduay in exchange for one-time MVP Abet Guidaben in a blockbuster trade that took place two and a half weeks after the start of the PBA Third Conference.

Summary

Formerly the Beer Hausen Brewmasters, Manila Beer started off with Doug Harris as their import. Harris played seven games and was replaced by the returning Lewis Brown. The Brewmasters finished with 5 wins and 7 loss at the end of eliminations, they swept all their three games in the quarterfinal round to force a playoff against Northern Consolidated for the last semifinals berth. Manila Beer lost to NCC, 75-98, in the do-or-die game on May 2.

Manila Beer lost their first three outings in the All-Filipino Conference, but won four of their next five games for an even 4-4 won-loss slate. In their all-important match on July 18 against league-leading Great Taste, the Brewmasters lost in overtime, 117-123, as they blew an opportunity to win the game outright in regulation after center Ramon Fernandez missed two free throws that could have won it for Manila Beer, a week later on July 25, Shell eliminates Manila Beer from the semifinal race with a 95-90 victory.

The hulking Francois Wise, who last played for Tanduay two years ago, was Manila Beer's import for the Reinforced Conference. The Brewmasters were on top of the standings with 4 wins and 1 loss. In a shocking decision, Manila Beer traded last season's MVP Ramon Fernandez to Tanduay for Abet Guidaben, who will be reunited with former Crispa teammates Atoy Co and Yoyoy Villamin. On September 26, Guidaben played his first game in Manila Beer uniform as the Brewmasters beat Magnolia, 93-91. Manila Beer started the second round of eliminations with a repeat victory over Great Taste in Cebu City, 101-98, two days later on September 28. They lost two straight games since the trade but went on to win their last three assignments for an outright semifinals berth and finish on top with 9 wins and 3 losses.^[1] Francois Wise scored 68 points in their first outing in the semifinal round on November 5, winning against Great Taste, 130-126.^[2] Manila Beer dropped their next two games to Ginebra and Northern. In the second round of the semifinals, the Brewmasters completed a three-game sweep, beating Great Taste, 117-105, Ginebra, 127-117, and Northern, 99-93, coming back from a nine-point deficit in the final period and close out the game with a big 19-4 run to win and become the first finalist, leaving Northern and Great Taste to dispute the second finals seat, which the NCC won.

Manila Beer were swept in four games by the guest national team Northern Consolidated, coach by Ron Jacobs and with two naturalized players; Jeff Moore and Dennis Still. The Brewmasters lost in the four-game series by an average of 25.5 points and were routed in Games 1 and 4. The finals sweep by NCC was the first time in PBA history that it happen in a best-of-seven series.

Roster

_{Team Manager: Andy Jao}

References