# 2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational

The 2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational was the preseason pocket tournament for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2023 season and the second edition of the MPBL Preseason Invitational. The tournament began February 21, 2023 and ended with the final game on February 27, 2023 when the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines beat the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, 88–80. Dexter Maiquez was crowned the tournament's MVP.
The tournament was once again held at a single venue, this time being the Lagao Gymnasium in General Santos, home of the GenSan Warriors, with a format is similar to that of the previous edition, albeit downsized to accommodate the smaller pool of teams.

## Teams

A total of eight teams competed in the tournament. These include seven MPBL teams, as well as Bulalakaw, a local team based in General Santos, as the league’s first-ever guest team. Making their first Invitational appearances were the Batangas City Embassy Chill (competing as the Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters) and Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines.
List of 2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational teams :
| Team | Invitational statistics | Invitational statistics | Invitational statistics | 2022 season statistics | 2022 season statistics |
| Team | Apps. | Last | Best result | Record | Playoff result |
| Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters | 1 | — | — | 17–4 (.810) | Division Finals |
| Bulalakaw (guest team) | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| GenSan Warriors | 2 | 2021 | Group stage (2021) | 15–6 (.714) | Division Quarterfinals |
| Imus SV Squad | 2 | 2021 | Fourth place (2021) | 5–16 (.238) | – |
| Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards | 2 | 2021 | Runner-up (2021) | 21–0 (1.000) | Champion |
| Sarangani Marlins | 2 | 2021 | Group stage (2021) | 16–5 (.762) | Division Quarterfinals |
| Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. | 2 | 2021 | Group stage (2021) | 10–11 (.476) | Division Quarterfinals |
| Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines | 1 | — | — | 18–3 (.857) | National Finals |

### Notes

* ↑ Competed as Batangas City Embassy Chill during the 2022 season. The name change was only made temporary for the Preseason Invitational.
* ↑ Competed as Imus City Bandera during the 2022 season. The new name would remain for the 2023 season.

## Format

The tournament is divided into two stages: the group stage and the playoffs. The eight participating teams are divided into two groups of four. Both groups play in a single round-robin format, wherein each team plays one game against all other teams within the same group. The top two teams in each group advance to a two-round, single-elimination playoffs consisting of all knockout games.
This time around, every team was given prize money based on their standings: ₱3 million for the champion, ₱500,000 for the runner-up, ₱300,000 for the third-place team, ₱200,000 for the fourth-place team, and ₱100,000 for all non-playoff teams.

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification | ZAM | SAR | BLL | BTG |
| 1 | Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines | 3 | 2 | 1 | 277 | 248 | +29 | Playoffs | — | 92–85 | 102–75 | 83–88 |
| 2 | Sarangani Marlins | 3 | 2 | 1 | 284 | 268 | +16 | Playoffs | 85–92 | — | 106–86 | 93–90 |
| 3 | Bulalakaw | 3 | 1 | 2 | 233 | 278 | −45 | | 75–102 | 86–106 | — | 72–70 |
| 4 | Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters | 3 | 1 | 2 | 248 | 248 | 0 | | 88–83 | 90–93 | 70–72 | — |
* 1 2 Zamboanga wins tiebreaker over Sarangani by head-to-head victory.
* 1 2 Bulalakaw wins tiebreaker over Batangas City by head-to-head victory.

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification | NE | IMS | GS | VAL |
| 1 | Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards | 3 | 3 | 0 | 255 | 209 | +46 | Playoffs | — | 88–78 | 73–67 | 94–64 |
| 2 | Imus SV Squad | 3 | 2 | 1 | 244 | 214 | +30 | Playoffs | 78–88 | — | 78–61 | 88–65 |
| 3 | GenSan Warriors | 3 | 1 | 2 | 210 | 224 | −14 | | 67–73 | 61–78 | — | 82–73 |
| 4 | Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. | 3 | 0 | 3 | 202 | 264 | −62 | | 64–94 | 65–88 | 73–82 | — |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| A1 | Zamboanga | 89 | | | |
| B2 | Imus | 82 | | | |
| B2 | Imus | 82 | A1 | Zamboanga | 88 |
| | | | B1 | Nueva Ecija | 80 |
| B1 | Nueva Ecija | 112 | B1 | Nueva Ecija | 80 |
| A2 | Sarangani | 89 | Battle for Third | Battle for Third | Battle for Third |
| | | | B2 | Imus | 93 |
| | | | A2 | Sarangani | 76 |

### Semifinals

* One PH One Sports+
* February 25 7:00 pm
* Boxscore
| Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines | 89–82 | Imus SV Squad |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 22–20, 24–28, 22–11 |||
| Pts: Judel Fuentes 21 Rebs: Judel Fuentes 9 Asts: Judel Fuentes, Jayvee Marcelino 6 | | Pts: Mark Cardona 24 Rebs: Jaymar Gimpayan 16 Asts: Mark Cardona, Jaymar Gimpayan 5 |
* Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos, South Cotabato
* One PH One Sports+
* February 25 9:00 pm
* Boxscore
| Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards | 112–89 | Sarangani Marlins |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–16, 32–25, 28–20, 31–28 |||
| Pts: John Villarias 18 Rebs: William McAloney 7 Asts: Four players 4 | | Pts: Nemesis Dela Cruz 18 Rebs: Anthony Sistoza 8 Asts: Alex Desoyo 5 |
* Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos, South Cotabato

### Battle for Third

* One PH One Sports+
* February 27 7:00 pm
* Boxscore
| Imus SV Squad | 93–76 | Sarangani Marlins |
| Scoring by quarter: 18–11, 24–20, 27–14, 24–31 |||
| Pts: Jaymar Gimpayan 22 Rebs: Jaymar Gimpayan 20 Asts: Jayjay Helterbrand 11 | | Pts: Orin Catacutan 17 Rebs: Marc Poole 7 Asts: Rafael Are 5 |
* Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos, South Cotabato

### Finals

* One PH One Sports+
* February 27 9:00 pm
* Boxscore
| Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards | 80–88 | Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines |
| Scoring by quarter: 13–30, 21–20, 23–19, 23–19 |||
| Pts: Michael Juico 15 Rebs: Michael Juico 8 Asts: Chris Bitoon 5 | | Pts: Dexter Maiquez 29 Rebs: three players 7 Asts: Jerald Bautista, Judel Fuentes 5 |
* Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos, South Cotabato

## Media

This was the first MPBL Invitational under Cignal TV's ongoing broadcast partnership with the league. The games were broadcast on One PH and One Sports+ on television. The league streamed all of the games online on Facebook and YouTube.