1987 Philippine Amateur Basketball League season
| 1987 PABL season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | March 7 – December 18, 1987 |
| Number of teams | 8 + 2 |
| Conferences | |
| International Invitational Cup champions | RFM-Swift Hotdogs |
| Runners-up | YCO Shine Masters |
| Freedom Cup champions | YCO Shine Masters |
| Runners-up | RFM-Swift Hotdogs |
| Maharlika Cup champions | Magnolia Ice Cream |
| Runners-up | RFM-Swift Hotdogs |
| Awards | |
| Season MVP | Alvin Patrimonio |
| Seasons | |
|
< 1986
1988 >
|
|
| Qualified for quarterfinals |
The 1987 PABL season is the fifth season of the Philippine Amateur Basketball League (PABL).
The First Conference opens on March 7. The participating teams were Filipino Cup champion YCO Shine Masters, Magnolia Juice Drinks, RFM-Swifts, Lhuillier-Converse, Purefoods, Sta.Lucia Realty, Philips Sardines and newcomer Lady's Choice, coach by Nic Jorge. The format is a one-round eliminations among eight teams with the top four making it to the semifinals at the end of preliminary round. YCO took the first semifinals berth with a 5-2 won-loss record, five other teams ended up with a 4-3 card. Purefoods, Philips and Swift Hotdogs made it to the next round by way of superior quotient over Magnolia and Lhuillier-Converse.
Three foreign clubs were guest teams seeded into the semifinal round, they are the Hyundai Motors of South Korea, led by hotshot Lee Chung Hee, Golden Dragon of Taiwan and the Pacific All-stars, a tall team featuring top American servicemen in the Asia-Pacific region. Local teams beef up their roster by adding reinforcements from the ousted squads. RFM-Swifts and YCO arranged a best-of-three championship showdown by topping the semifinal round with identical 5-1 won-loss slates, Philips Sardines (4-2) and Golden Dragon of Taiwan (3-3 in a tie with Hyundai) dispute third place honors, Purefoods was 1-5 and winless Clark (Pacific) All-stars at 0-6.
RFM-Swifts, under coach Yeng Guiao, who called the shots for the hotdogs only for this tournament, won their first PABL title with a two-game sweep off YCO Shine Masters. Golden Dragon of Taiwan won third place via higher point difference, following a victory over Philips that tied their series at one game apiece. Jojo Lastimosa of Lhuillier-Converse, who was a guest player of Swifts in the semifinals, won the Most Outstanding Local Player Award, also cited as Most Outstanding Foreign Player was Korean Lee Chung Hee of Hyundai, who scored a tournament-high of 66 points in a 110-111 Hyundai loss to Philips Sardines on March 23.
The Second Conference called Freedom Cup started on May 16 at the ULTRA. Cebu-based Mama's Love and the newly formed MIESCOR Builders from Manila Electric Company, a power in major basketball in the early 1970s before Martial Law, joined the 8 other clubs, raising the participating teams to ten. After the one-round eliminations, RFM-Swifts, with new coach Chito Afable, were on top of the team standings with seven wins and two losses, followed by Magnolia Juice Drinks (6-3), national senior's champion Lhuillier-Converse, MIESCOR and YCO were all tied with five wins and four losses. Sta.Lucia and Purefoods dispute the last quarterfinals seat, the Realtors prevail over the Food Masters, 93-89 on June 8.
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