# 2003 PBA Invitational Championship

The 2003 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Samsung-Invitational Championship, was the second conference of the 2003 PBA season. It started on July 27 and ended on August 23, 2003. The tournament features three guest foreign teams from Korea, China and Yugoslavia along with the Philippine national team.
The Alaska Aces captured their 11th PBA title by beating the Coca Cola Tigers, 2-1, in their best-of-three finals series.
Brandon Cablay won on his first Finals MVP in Invitational Cup Championship.

## Qualification
### PBA Philippine Cup

* Top 5 teams qualify outright
* Bottom 5 teams proceed to last chance qualifying via Mabuhay Cup
| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Batang Red Bull Thunder | 14 | 4 | .778 | — | Qualify to Invitational Tournament |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 12 | 6 | .667 | 2 | Qualify to Invitational Tournament |
| 3 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 11 | 7 | .611 | 3 | Qualify to Invitational Tournament |
| 4 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 10 | 8 | .556 | 4 | Qualify to Invitational Tournament |
| 5 | FedEx Express | 10 | 8 | .556 | 4 | Qualify to Invitational Tournament |
| 6 | Alaska Aces | 9 | 9 | .500 | 5 | Proceed to Mabuhay Cup |
| 7 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 8 | 10 | .444 | 6 | Proceed to Mabuhay Cup |
| 8 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 6 | 12 | .333 | 8 | Proceed to Mabuhay Cup |
| 9 | Shell Turbo Chargers | 5 | 13 | .278 | 9 | Proceed to Mabuhay Cup |
| 10 | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | 5 | 13 | .278 | 9 | Proceed to Mabuhay Cup |

### Samsung-PBA Mabuhay Cup

The Samsung PBA-Mabuhay Cup was the one-round robin between the five lower seeded teams based on their won-loss records in the elimination round of the All-Filipino Cup to determine the sixth and last qualifying team for the PBA second conference Invitationals.
The Alaska Aces made it as the sixth entry by defeating Barangay Ginebra Kings on July 20 at the Cuneta Astrodome for a perfect 4-0 slate.
| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Alaska Aces | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | — | Qualify to Invitational Tournament |
| 2 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2 | |
| 3 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2 | |
| 4 | Shell Turbo Chargers | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2 | |
| 5 | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | 0 | 4 | .000 | 4 | |

## Elimination round
### Group A

Red Bull gained the last slot in the crossover semis on August 13 at the Cuneta Astrodome in a bizarre ending, Talk 'N Text, which won 88-87, needed to win 8 points, went to the extent of shooting to the Red Bull's goal while enjoying the lead in the closing seconds to possibly force an overtime.
| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | FedEx Express | 3 | 1 | .750 | — | Qualify to semifinals |
| 2 | Red Bull Barako | 3 | 1 | .750 | — | Qualify to semifinals |
| 3 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 3 | 1 | .750 | — | |
| 4 | KK Novi Sad (Yugoslavia) (G) | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2 | |
| 5 | Yonsei University (South Korea) (G) | 0 | 4 | .000 | 3 | |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head quotient: FedEx 1.032, Red Bull 1.025, Talk 'N Text 0.949
* NBN/IBC
* July 27
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* July 30
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 1
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 2
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 3
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 6
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 8
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 9
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 10
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 13
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Alaska Aces | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | — | Qualify to semifinals |
| 2 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 3 | 1 | .750 | 1 | Qualify to semifinals |
| 3 | San Miguel Beermen | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2 | |
| 4 | Cebuana Lhuillier (Philippine national team) (G) | 1 | 3 | .250 | 3 | |
| 5 | Magnolia-Jilin (China) (G) | 0 | 4 | .000 | 4 | |
* NBN/IBC
* July 27
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* July 30
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 1
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 2
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 3
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 6
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 8
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 9
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 10
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 13
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

## Bracket

| Semifinals (Single elimination) | Semifinals (Single elimination) | Semifinals (Single elimination) | Finals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) | Finals (Best-of-3) |
| A1 | FedEx | 83 | | | |
| B2 | Coca-Cola | 91 | | | |
| B2 | Coca-Cola | 91 | B2 | Coca-Cola | 1 |
| | | | B1 | Alaska | 2 |
| B1 | Alaska | 95 | B1 | Alaska | 2 |
| A2 | Red Bull | 87 | Third-place playoff | Third-place playoff | Third-place playoff |
| | | | A1 | FedEx | 99 |
| | | | A2 | Red Bull | 84 |
* view
* talk

## Semifinals

* NBN/IBC
* August 15
* recap
* Ynares Center, Antipolo
* NBN/IBC
* August 15
* Ynares Center, Antipolo

## Third place playoff

* NBN/IBC
* August 17
* recap
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

## Finals

The 2003 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Invitational Conference finals was the best-of-3 basketball championship series of the 2003 PBA Invitational Conference, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. Alaska Aces and Coca-Cola Tigers played for the 85th championship contested by the league.
Alaska Aces won their 11th championship.

### Series scoring summary

The following scoring summary is written in a line score format, except that the quarter numbers are replaced by game numbers.
| Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Wins |
| Alaska | 81 | 76† | 91 | 2 |
| Coca-Cola | 94 | 78 | 86 | 1 |
† denotes the number of overtimes

### Scores

* NBN/IBC
* August 17
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 20
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* NBN/IBC
* August 23
Alaska Aces 91, Coca Cola Tigers 86 :
* Alaska wins series, 2–⁠1 ||
* PhilSports Arena, Pasig
Brandon Lee Cablay held the Aces together with timely hits then sparked a fiery Alaska windup as the Tigers came back from 16 points down to even lead twice early in the last quarter. Cablay nailed a three-pointer that tied the count for the final time at 70-all and added back-to-back baskets that finally doomed the Tigers, 84-74, with 2:24 left in the game. The 6-foot Cablay was adjudged as the first rookie Finals MVP since Danny Seigle with San Miguel back in 1999.