2007 PBA Fiesta Conference

The 2007 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference or known as the 2007 Talk 'N Text PBA Fiesta Conference for sponsorship reasons, is the second conference of the 2006-07 season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Teams are allowed to pick an import with a maximum height-limit of 6-feet, 6-inches tall.

2007 PBA Fiesta Conference
DurationMarch 4 – July 20, 2007
TV partner(s)ABC
Finals
ChampionsAlaska Aces
Runners-upTalk 'N Text Phone Pals
Awards
Best PlayerMark Cardona
(Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters)
Best ImportRosell Ellis
(Alaska Aces)
Finals MVPWillie Miller
(Alaska Aces)
PBA Fiesta Conference chronology
PBA conference chronology

The tournament began on March 4 and finished on July 20. The schedule will be shortened due to the league's commitment to the Philippine national basketball team while 12 players selected by national team head coach Chot Reyes will not play for their mother teams.

Red Bull Barako is the defending champions of the tournament.[1]

Talk 'N Text, a product of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, was the main sponsor of the tournament. They also sponsored the 2006-07 PBA Philippine Cup that ended a month before the tournament.

List of imports

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The following is the list of imports, which had played for their respective teams at least once, with the returning imports in italics. Highlighted are the imports who stayed with their respective teams for the whole conference.

# Name Team Debuted
1 Alex Compton Welcoat Dragons March 4 vs. Coca-Cola
2 Charles Clark III Welcoat Dragons March 4 vs. Coca-Cola
3 Anthony Johnson Coca-Cola Tigers March 4 vs. Welcoat
4 Jessie King Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants March 4 vs. Red Bull
5 James Penny Red Bull Barako March 4 vs. Purefoods
6 Shawn Daniels Air21 Express March 7 vs. Sta. Lucia
7 Marcellus Christian Air 21 Express March 7 vs. Barangay Ginebra
8 Rosell Ellis Alaska Aces March 7 vs. Talk 'N Text
9 Rock Winston Sta. Lucia Realtors March 7 vs. Air21
10 James Sullinger Talk 'N Text Phone Pals March 7 vs. Alaska
11 Vidal Massiah San Miguel Beermen March 9 vs. Red Bull
12 Rod Nealy Barangay Ginebra Kings March 11 vs. Alaska
13 Paul McMillan San Miguel Beermen March 17 vs. Coca-Cola
14 Marquin Chandler Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants March 21 vs. San Miguel
15 Galen Young San Miguel Beermen April 11 vs. Alaska
16 Rob Sanders Welcoat Dragons April 15 vs. San Miguel
17 Jeff Varem Coca-Cola Tigers April 20 vs. Barangay Ginebra
18 Wayland White Welcoat Dragons May 2 vs. Barangay Ginebra
19 Jamaal Williams Sta. Lucia Realtors May 2 vs. Air21
20 Rashad Bell Coca-Cola Tigers May 30 vs. Red Bull

Welcoat was allowed to have two imports. Compton, is an American citizen was born in the Philippines and was a member of the several local teams playing as a local.

Tournament format

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  • Double round eliminations. Worst team would be eliminated.
  • Sixth- to ninth-best teams figure in the one-game wildcard playoffs.
    • Sixth seed vs. Ninth seed
    • Seventh seed vs. Eighth seed
    • Winners will figure in a playoff to advance to the quarterfinals.
  • Third- to fifth-best teams, and the winner of the wildcards advance to the best-of-three quarterfinals.
    • Third seed vs. winner of wildcards.
    • Fourth seed vs. fifth seed.
  • The two best teams and the winners of the quarterfinals advance to the best-of-seven semifinals.
    • First seed vs. winner of the third seed/wildcard winner quarterfinal series
    • Second seed vs. winner of the fourth seed/fifth seed quarterfinal series
  • The winners of the semifinals advance to the best-of-seven Finals; the losers figure in a one-game third-place playoff.

Elimination round

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Team standings

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Pos Team W L PCT GB Qualification
1 Red Bull Barako 13 5 .722 Advance to semifinals
2 Alaska Aces 12 6 .667[a] 1
3 Barangay Ginebra Kings 12 6 .667[a] 1 Advance to quarterfinals
4 Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 11 7 .611 2
5 Air21 Express 10 8 .556[b] 3
6 San Miguel Beermen 10 8 .556[b] 3 Advance to wildcard round
7 Coca-Cola Tigers 7 11 .389 6
8 Purefoods Chunkee Giants 6 12 .333 7
9 Sta. Lucia Realtors 5 13 .278 8
10 Welcoat Dragons 4 14 .222 9
Source: PBA.ph
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Second-seed playoff: Alaska 103–95 Barangay Ginebra
  2. ^ a b Fifth-seed playoff: Air21 103–99 San Miguel

Fifth seed playoff

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Second seed playoff

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Bracket

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Wildcard phase
(Single elimination)
Wildcard phase
(Single elimination)
Quarterfinals
(Best-of-3)
Semifinals
(Best-of-7)
Finals
(Best-of-7)
6San Miguel1022Alaska4
9Sta. Lucia853Brgy. Ginebra16San Miguel2
6San Miguel1026San Miguel2
7Coca-Cola1012Alaska4
7Coca-Cola1004Talk 'N Text3
8Purefoods97
1Red Bull2Third place
4Talk 'N Text24Talk 'N Text4
5Air2116San Miguel96
1Red Bull103

Quarterfinals

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(3) Barangay Ginebra vs. (6) San Miguel

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June 17
San Miguel Beermen 117, Barangay Ginebra Kings 114 (OT)
San Miguel wins series, 2-1
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 13,089

(4) Talk 'N Text vs. (5) Air21

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June 17
Air21 Express 112, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 114
Talk 'N Text wins series, 2-1

Semifinals

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(1) Red Bull vs. (4) Talk 'N Text

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July 1
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 122, Red Bull Barako 110
Talk 'N Text wins series, 4-2

(2) Alaska vs. (6) San Miguel

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July 1
San Miguel Beermen 109, Alaska Aces 113 (2OT)
Alaska wins series, 4-2

Third place playoff

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July 4
San Miguel Beermen 96, Red Bull Barako 103
Red Bull wins third-place trophy

Finals

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Prior to Game 1, Sandwich performed "Laban kung Laban," the TV theme song of the PBA.

Game 1

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July 6
7:30 P.M.
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 85, Alaska Aces 113
Scoring by quarter: 28-16, 16-29, 19-37, 22-31
Pts: James Sullinger 25
Rebs: James Sullinger 12
Asts: Mark Cardona 3
Pts: Cortez, Ellis 22 each
Rebs: Rosell Ellis 13
Asts: Rosell Ellis 10
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Referees: Cruz, Herrera, Ferrer

Game 2

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July 8
6:30 P.M.
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 120, Alaska Aces 113
Scoring by quarter: 28-30, 25-30, 31-33, 27-29
Pts: Mark Cardona 30
Rebs: Yancy de Ocampo 9
Asts: Mark Cardona 5
Pts: Rosell Ellis 40
Rebs: Rosell Ellis 18
Asts: Rosell Ellis 7
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Referees: Calungcaguin, Aldaba, Ferrer

Game 3

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July 11
7:30 P.M.
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 95, Alaska Aces 87
Scoring by quarter: 15-30, 25-26, 27-12, 28-19
Pts: James Sullinger 30
Rebs: James Sullinger 15
Asts: James Sullinger 8
Pts: Willie Miller 29
Rebs: Rosell Ellis 13
Asts: Ellis, Hugnatan 3 each
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Referees: Montiel, Herrera, Canizares

Game 4

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July 13
7:30 P.M.
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 82, Alaska Aces 86
Scoring by quarter: 25-21, 18-24, 23-18, 16-23
Pts: James Sullinger 26
Rebs: James Sullinger 13
Asts: Donbel Belano 5
Pts: Willie Miller 29
Rebs: Rosell Ellis 14
Asts: Willie Miller 4
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Referees: Canizares, Aldaba, Cruz

Game 5

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July 15
6:30 p.m.
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 107, Alaska Aces 104
Scoring by quarter: 31-25, 23-20, 25-27, 28-32
Pts: James Sullinger 24
Rebs: Sullinger, Carey 8 each
Asts: Mark Cardona 5
Pts: Rosell Ellis 28
Rebs: Rosell Ellis 16
Asts: Miller, Ellis 5 each
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 11,097
Referees: Quilinguen, Herrera, Montiel

Game 6

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July 18
7:05 p.m.
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 110, Alaska Aces 121
Scoring by quarter: 34-22, 11-34, 31-38, 34-27
Pts: Mark Cardona 29
Rebs: James Sullinger 9
Asts: James Sullinger 3
Pts: Willie Miller 37
Rebs: Rosell Ellis 16
Asts: Cortez, Ellis 8 each
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Referees: Cruz, Calungcaguin, Canizares

Game 7

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July 20
7:05 P.M.
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 96, Alaska Aces 99
Scoring by quarter: 26-25, 27-20, 19-25, 24-29
Pts: Sullinger 30
Rebs: Sullinger 13
Asts: Sullinger 5
Pts: Ellis 30
Rebs: Ellis 10
Asts: Ellis 9
Alaska wins series 4–3
Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
Attendance: 10,040
Referees: Quilinguen, Aldaba, Calungcaguin

On Game 1, the Phone Pals raced into a twenty-point lead at the first quarter but the Aces chipped in to lead by a point by halftime. The Phone Pals lost steam as the Aces won the first game. The Phone Pals reversed the roles as the Aces themselves lost steam at the ends of Games 2 and 3 for a Phone Pals 2–1 series lead.

With a 1–3 deficit looming, newly crowned MVP Willie Miller stepped up his performance as he tied his conference-high 29 points to lead the Aces into victory on Game 4. Conference Best Player Mark Cardona blew the Phone Pals chances' when he turned the ball over with 4 seconds with a 2-point deficit to lead a Rosell Ellis tip-in from a Sonny Thoss missed lay-up.

On Game 5, Willie Miller turned cold when the Phone Pals started pulling away. The Piltel franchise notched win #3 to assure a twice-to-beat advantage. Miller, who was severely criticized by a lackluster performance by the MVP, answered his critics with a 37-point output (the best in the Finals by a local) to lead the Aces to a Game 6 win and to force a Game 7.

References

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  1. ^ "Barako open Fiesta Cup defense vs TJ Giants". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
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