1990 Presto Tivolis season

The 1990 Presto Tivolis season was the 16th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Draft picks

Awards

• Allan Caidic won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, the triggerman also emerged scoring champion for the fourth straight season, averaging 26.6 points per game in 65 appearances during the season.
• Gerald Esplana won the Rookie of the Year (ROY) Honors.
• Arnie Tuadles was awarded by the Sports and Columnist Organization of the Philippines (SCOOP) as the Most Outstanding Player of the All-Filipino finals series.

Championship

Presto Tivolis won their fourth All-Filipino title and sixth crown overall. Coach Jimmy Mariano won his first title while Arnie Tuadles become the first player to win two championships with two different teams in one season, having earlier won a title for Shell when he moved to Presto in the middle of the Second Conference.

Summary

Presto Tivolis signed two of their draftees; Peter Jao and Gerald Esplana during the off-season and brought in shot-blocking Winston Crite as their import in the First Conference. Presto finished second with 7 wins and 3 losses in the eliminations, a game behind leaders Formula Shell and Añejo Rum. The Tivolis split their first four games in the semifinals, snapping the 8-game winning streak of Añejo in a 115-113 victory on April 17 as Winston Crite scored 56 points. The Tivolis dropped out of contention for the finals berth when they lost three in a row and nearly miss a chance to play for third place, they beat Alaska Milkmen, 111-110, in their last game in the semifinals on April 29.

In the All-Filipino Conference, Presto completed a 10-game sweep in the elimination round, defeated Pepsi Hotshots in their first game, 113-95 on June 12, as Allan Caidic scored 40 points. ^[1] The Tivolis' fourth win was against Purefoods Hotdogs, scoring the last seven points in a 115-112 victory on June 24. ^[2] Win number five came against San Miguel on June 28, in a 123-113 victory. ^[3] On July 8, Allan Caidic scored a conference-high 57 points as Presto rolled to its seventh straight win, defeating Alaska, 134-128. ^[4] The Tivolis completed a perfect 10-0, repeating against San Miguel Beermen, 130-119 in overtime, on the last day of eliminations on July 22. At the start of the semifinal round, the Tivolis acquired Arnie Tuadles, on his third stint with the CFC ballclub, following Tuadles' contract dispute with his former team Formula Shell. The Tivolis' unbeaten streak was halted by Purefoods, they lost their next game to San Miguel for a two-game losing skid. Presto won their next three games for its 13th win but lost the last three of their semifinal assignments and were forced into a sudden-death playoff for the second finals berth with either San Miguel Beer or Añejo Rum 65, after losing to the Purefoods Hotdogs, 107-116, which nailed the first finals seat on August 12. The Tivolis finally made it to the championship series by nipping San Miguel, 117-115, in a knockout game a week later on August 19. The best-of-seven finals between Presto Tivolis and Purefoods Hotdogs went into a deciding seventh game, Arnie Tuadles filled in the shoes for the injured Allan Caidic in the all-important Game Seven, scoring 33 points as Presto won by a big margin, 115-96.

Winston Crite was back in the Third Conference, his partner was Everett Stephens, who was replaced by former San Miguel import Ennis Whatley after just two games. The Tivolis went down to one win and four losses, before winning their next five games for a 6-4 card in the eliminations. Presto lost their first three outings in the semifinals but again came through with a five-game winning run and avail the win 5 of 8 games in the semifinal round for a shot at the final playoffs. ^[5] The Tivolis were ousted by Shell Rimula-X, 114-137 on December 4, in the first of two playoff games to determine the other finalist. Presto placed fourth in the Third Conference, after being swept in two games by Shell Turbo Chargers in their best-of-three series for third place.

Roster

_{Assistant coaches: Bong Go / Nap Flores Team Manager: Ignacio Gotao}

References