The San Miguel Beermen is one of the most famous teams in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). If you like Philippine basketball, you may have heard about them.The Beermen have a long past, a strong team, and fans who will always support them. The purpose of this blog is to examine some of the highlights of their journey, as well as some of their top players, coach, and the most recent news regarding the team.
History of the Team
The San Miguel Corporation group of businesses own the team. They also own Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.When the squad was first established in 1975, it was called Royal Tru-Orange. In the 1987 Reinforced Conference, the team went back to using its previous name, San Miguel Beer. Since then, the team has gone through many name changes, but San Miguel Beermen remains its present name. They wore green and white instead of the customary red and white jerseys they use now. The Philippine Basketball Association, the first professional basketball league outside of the United States, was founded in 1975 with nine companies, including San Miguel.
They defeated the Alaska Aces in their opening game in the 2009 Fiesta Conference despite playing without an import. After acquiring Gabe Freeman from the Albany Patroons, they went on to win eight straight games and had the best league record. With 28 titles to their credit and more than 1,200 wins overall, the Beermen hold the record for most victories ever.Here are some of the major milestones:
- September 1989: The group won all three conferences throughout the PBA season, completing their first Grand Slam.
- Season 1992–1994: The team captured three straight All-Filipino Conference titles.
- Season 2014–2019: The team achieved a “five-peat,” winning the Philippine Cup five times in a row.
- 2017–18 Season: They won the Philippine Cup for the fourth time in a row after defeating the Magnolia Hotshots in five games.
- September 2022: Three years after their historic five-peat in 2019, they went on to win the Philippine Cup again by defeating TNT in a hard-fought seven-game series in the Finals.
Key Players
June Mar Fajardo
June Mar Fajardo is a Filipino professional basketball player who was born in Compostela, Cebu, Philippines, on November 17, 1989.Fajardo was the first overall choice by Petron Blaze Boosters in the 2012 PBA draft after playing college basketball for the University of Cebu Webmasters in the CESAFI.
Fajardo or “The Kraken” is a center recognized for his size and agility in the face of opposing big men. Fajardo won multiple Leo Awards in his sophomore season despite team failure.He was named PBA Most Improved Player and All-Defensive and Mythical First Team for the first time in his career in 2014. From 2014 to 2019, Fajardo won six consecutive MVP awards, making him the first player in PBA history to achieve the feat. He was a huge part of the Philippines national team.
CJ Perez
Born in Hong Kong, CJ Perez who has played for the San Miguel Beermen since 2021. He’s best known for scoring 25 points, including seven in the important fourth quarter rally, in Game 7 of the 2022 Philippine Cup.
Simon Nicholas Marquez Enciso
Simon Nicholas Marquez Enciso is a Filipino-American professional basketball player who plays as a point guard/shooting guard for San Miguel Beermen. He was born on February 12, 1991, in San Francisco, California. Enciso transferred to Notre Dame de Namur University in 2012 after two seasons at Skyline College. He was picked 17th overall by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2015 PBA second round. He played for NLEX Road Warriors, Phoenix Fuel Masters, Alaska Aces, TNT Tropang Giga, Blackwater Bossing, and Terrafirma Dyip. Before playing for Terrafirma, he was moved to San Miguel Beermen for Alex Cabagnot on November 13, 2021.
Christopher Michael Ross
Christopher Michael Ross is a Filipino-American professional basketball player who was born in San Antonio, Texas, on March 9, 1985. Ross is the Beermen’s starting point guard and can play both guard positions.
As a Beermen defender, he is one of the league’s finest. Nine PBA titles and two PBA Finals MVP awards are among his honours. He was a 2017 PBA Mythical First Team member and a five-time All-Star.
Terrence Bill Vitanzos Romeo
Terrence Bill Vitanzos Romeo is a Filipino-American professional basketball player who was born in Imus, Cavite, Philippines, on March 16, 1992.Romeo played college basketball at Far Eastern University after high school basketball at Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
He was picked fifth overall by Barako Bull Energy Cola in 2013.Romeo can play point guard and shooting guard. His scoring skills earned him three PBA scoring titles. He also won two PBA championships and one PBA Finals MVP.
Marcio Tsongo Sandio Eshabarr Lassiter
Marcio Tsongo Sandio Eshabarr Lassiter is a Filipino-American professional basketball player who was born in San Francisco, California, on May 16, 1987. He is a team small forward/shooting guard. He played basketball at Cal State Fullerton. The Powerade Tigers picked him in the 2011 PBA first round. Lassiter is widely regarded as one of the league’s top three-point shooters because of his exceptional shooting skills.
The Coach
Jorge Gallent, a native of the Philippines, played basketball professionally and is now a coach. He is the San Miguel Beermen’s head coach in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) at the moment.
Gallent is renowned for his ability to optimize his players’ abilities by making little adjustments to the team’s playbook. Gallent was a seven-time Philippine Basketball League (PBL) champion player. He has won 10 PBA titles in his role as assistant coach and six PBL titles in his role as head coach. The 2023-24 PBA Governor’s Cup then gave him his first win as a PBA Head Coach.
Recent News
San Miguel Beermen win 2023-24 PBA Governor’s Cup
The San Miguel Beermen clinched the 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup with a come-from-behind 104-102 victory over the Magnolia Hotshots in Game 6 of the Finals.
San Miguel began the conference with promise after notching three wins in four games. But then, injuries to the likes of June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo at different points of the Commissioner’s Cup threatened to put a wrench to their campaign, which at one point in time stood at 3-3. Talks of cracks within the dynasty and potentially even missing the postseason arose, but all of the chatter died down after things started looking up for the Beermen.
In time, SMB’s players recovered and San Miguel replaced Ivan Aska (who deserves some credit for the Beermen’s success) with Bennie Boatwright Jr. There was also the return of a familiar face in former head coach and now active consultant Leo Austria. As the architect of SMB’s dominant stretch in recent memory, Austria has a wealth of experience he can still offer and San Miguel is better off with him on the sidelines than not.
Over time, the results spoke for themselves as the Beermen didn’t lose again until the finals, where they faced the top-seeded Hotshots. It was quite the heavyweight matchup, as both teams played to their strengths. SMB’s potent offense was crucial in the first two games, while Magnolia relied on their physicality in Games 3 and 4 to tie the series. Game 5 was a shootout from the jump and it played into the Beermen’s hands, setting the stage for a critical Game 6.
