# 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference

The 2008 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference, also known as the 2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference for sponsorship reasons, was the last conference of the 2007-08 PBA season. The tournament began on March 29 with a game between the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals at Panabo, Davao del Norte. Opening ceremonies were held the day after at the Araneta Coliseum.
All ten teams are permitted to acquire one non-Filipino (the "import") of unlimited height as reinforcement. Furthermore, the two worst performers in the elimination round of the previous conference (the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Welcoat Dragons), will also be able to acquire another import but with a height limit of 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m).

## Tournament format

* 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
### Team standings

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Air21 Express | 12 | 6 | .667 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Red Bull Barako | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 10 | 8 | .556 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 10 | 8 | .556 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 5 | Magnolia Beverage Masters | 10 | 8 | .556 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 6 | Alaska Aces | 9 | 9 | .500 | 3 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 7 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 9 | 9 | .500 | 3 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 8 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | 8 | 10 | .444 | 4 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 9 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 7 | 11 | .389 | 5 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 10 | Welcoat Dragons | 4 | 14 | .222 | 8 | |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head differential: Barangay Ginebra +14, Coca-Cola +4, Magnolia −18
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Alaska 1–1 Talk 'N Text (Alaska +9)

### Schedule

| | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| Team ╲ Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Air21 | WEL | RBB | PF | Coke | TNT | ALA | BGK | SLR | Coke | MBM | BGK | RBB | SLR | ALA | TNT | WEL | MBM | PF |
| Alaska | SLR | BGK | MBM | WEL | RBB | A21 | TNT | PF | Coke | RBB | TNT | PF | A21 | WEL | SLR | Coke | MBM | BGK |
| Barangay Ginebra | RBB | ALA | SLR | Coke | MBM | PF | A21 | TNT | WEL | A21 | MBM | RBB | SLR | PF | Coke | TNT | WEL | ALA |
| Coca-Cola | TNT | PF | WEL | A21 | BGK | SLR | RBB | MBM | ALA | A21 | RBB | WEL | PF | TNT | BGK | MBM | ALA | SLR |
| Magnolia | PF | SLR | ALA | TNT | BGK | WEL | RBB | Coke | PF | A21 | BGK | TNT | WEL | RBB | SLR | Coke | A21 | ALA |
| Purefoods | MBM | Coke | A21 | RBB | WEL | BGK | ALA | MBM | TNT | SLR | ALA | Coke | WEL | BGK | RBB | TNT | SLR | A21 |
| Red Bull | BGK | A21 | TNT | PF | ALA | Coke | MBM | SLR | WEL | ALA | Coke | A21 | BGK | MBM | PF | WEL | TNT | SLR |
| Sta. Lucia | ALA | MBM | BGK | TNT | Coke | WEL | RBB | A21 | TNT | WEL | PF | A21 | BGK | MBM | ALA | PF | Coke | RBB |
| Talk 'N Text | Coke | WEL | RBB | MBM | SLR | A21 | ALA | WEL | BGK | SLR | PF | ALA | MBM | Coke | A21 | PF | BGK | RBB |
| Welcoat | A21 | TNT | Coke | ALA | PF | MBM | SLR | TNT | RBB | BGK | SLR | Coke | MBM | PF | ALA | A21 | RBB | BGK |

## Bracket

| Wildcard phase (Single elimination) | Wildcard phase (Single elimination) | Wildcard phase (Single elimination) | Wildcard phase (Single elimination) | Wildcard phase (Single elimination) | Wildcard phase (Single elimination) | Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-7) | Semifinals (Best-of-7) | Semifinals (Best-of-7) | Finals (Best-of-7) | Finals (Best-of-7) | Finals (Best-of-7) |
| 6 | Alaska | 85 | | | | | | | 3 | Brgy. Ginebra | 4 | |
| 9 | Sta. Lucia | 99 | | | | 3 | Brgy. Ginebra | 2 | 2 | Red Bull | 0 | |
| | | | 9 | Sta. Lucia | 111 | 9 | Sta. Lucia | 0 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Talk 'N Text | 96 | | | | | | | 3 | Brgy. Ginebra | 4 |
| 7 | Talk 'N Text | 98 | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Air21 | 3 |
| 8 | Purefoods | 83 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Air21 | 4 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | 4 | Coca-Cola | 1 | 5 | Magnolia | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Magnolia | 2 | | 2 | Red Bull | 102 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 5 | Magnolia | 90 |
* view
* talk

## Wildcard phase
### First round

* ABC
* July 9
* Ynares Center, Antipolo
* ABC
* July 9
* Ynares Center, Antipolo

### Second round

* ABC
* July 11
* Ynares Center, Antipolo

## Quarterfinals
### (3) Barangay Ginebra vs. (9) Sta. Lucia

* ABC
* July 13
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* ABC
* July 16
Barangay Ginebra Kings 113, Sta. Lucia Realtors 85 :
* Barangay Ginebra wins series, 2–0 ||
* Ynares Center, Antipolo

### (4) Coca-Cola vs. (5) Magnolia

* ABC
* July 13
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* ABC
* July 16
* Ynares Center, Antipolo
* ABC
* July 18
Coca-Cola Tigers 60, Magnolia Beverage Masters 78 :
* Magnolia wins series, 2–1 ||
* Ynares Center, Antipolo

## Semifinals
### (1) Air21 vs. (5) Magnolia

* ABC
* July 20
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* ABC
* July 23
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* July 25
* Ynares Center, Antipolo
* ABC
* July 27
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* July 30
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* August 1
Air21 Express 99, Magnolia Beverage Masters 91 :
* Air21 wins series, 4–2 ||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

### (2) Red Bull vs. (3) Barangay Ginebra

* ABC
* July 20
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* ABC
* July 23
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* July 25
* Ynares Center, Antipolo
* ABC
* July 27
Red Bull Barako 97, Barangay Ginebra Kings 101 (OT) :
* Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–0 ||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

## Third place playoff

* ABC
* August 6
Red Bull Barako 102, Magnolia Beverage Masters 90 :
* Scoring by quarter: 28-22, 15-26, 27-37, 20-17 ||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

## Finals

* ABC
* August 6 7:20 p.m.
* boxscore
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 16,028 Referees: Aldaba, Ting, Maurillo
* ABC
* August 8 7:20 p.m.
* boxscore
* Ynares Center, Antipolo Referees: Montiel, Ferrer, Pascual
* TV5
* August 10 6:30 p.m.
* boxscore
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 15,142
* TV5
* August 13 7:20 p.m.
* boxscore
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Cruz, Aldaba, Quilinguen
* TV5
* August 15 7:20 p.m.
* boxscore
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay Referees: Cruz, Calungcaguin, Guevarra
* TV5
* August 17 6:30 p.m.
* boxscore
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 18,043
* TV5
* August 20 7:20 p.m.
* boxscore
Air21 Express 84, Barangay Ginebra Kings 97 :
* Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–3 ||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 22,902

## Awards

* Finals Most Valuable Player: Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk (Barangay Ginebra)
* Best Player of the Conference: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
* Best Import of the Conference: Chris Alexander (Barangay Ginebra)
* Players of the Week:
** March 29-April 6: Kelly Williams (Sta. Lucia)
** April 7–13: Danny Seigle (Magnolia)
** April 14–20: Cyrus Baguio (Red Bull)
** April 22-May 4: Mark Cardona (Talk 'N Text)
** May 5–11: Asi Taulava (Coca-Cola) & Rob Wainwright (Welcoat)
** May 12–18: Willie Miller (Alaska)
** May 19–25: Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
** May 26-June 1: Gary David (Air21)
** June 2–8: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
** June 9–15: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
** June 16–22: Lordy Tugade (Magnolia) & Ren-Ren Ritualo (Talk 'N Text)
** June 23–29: Jayjay Helterbrand (Barangay Ginebra)
** June 30–July 6: Gary David (Air21) & Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
** July 7–July 13: Joseph Yeo (Sta. Lucia)
** July 14–July 20: none
** July 21–July 27: Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra)
** July 28–August 3: Gary David (Air21)

## Imports

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 | Calvin Cage | Coca-Cola Tigers | March 29 vs. Talk 'N Text |
| 2 | Jason Dixon | Coca-Cola Tigers | March 29 vs. Talk 'N Text |
| 3 | Aaron McGhee | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | March 29 vs. Coca-Cola |
| 4 | Steve Thomas | Air21 Express | March 30 vs. Welcoat |
| 5 | Jason Keep | Welcoat Dragons | March 30 vs. Air21 |
| 6 | Cory Santee | Welcoat Dragons | March 30 vs. Air21 |
| 7 | Adam Parada | Red Bull Barako | March 30 vs. Brgy. Ginebra |
| 8 | Rahshon Turner | Barangay Ginebra Kings | March 30 vs. Red Bull |
| 9 | Wesley Wilson | Sta. Lucia Realtors | April 2 vs. Alaska |
| 10 | Randy Holcomb | Alaska Aces | April 2 vs. Sta. Lucia |
| 11 | Darius Rice | Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | April 2 vs. Magnolia |
| 12 | Jameel Watkins | Magnolia Beverage Masters | April 2 vs. Purefoods |
| 13 | Marquis Gainous | Welcoat Dragons | April 9 vs. Coca-Cola |
| 14 | Ernest Brown | Barangay Ginebra Kings | April 12 vs. Sta. Lucia |
| 15 | George Gervin, Jr. | Coca-Cola Tigers | April 13 vs. Air21 |
| 16 | Chris Alexander | Barangay Ginebra Kings | May 2 vs. Purefoods |
| 17 | Reda Rhalimi | Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | May 10 vs. Alaska |
| 18 | Donald Copeland | Coca-Cola Tigers | May 23 vs. Red Bull |
| 19 | Jamar Brown | Sta. Lucia Realtors | June 1 vs. Air21 |
| 20 | Lee Benson, Jr. | Sta. Lucia Realtors | June 13 vs. Magnolia |
| 21 | Amal McCaskill | Magnolia Beverage Masters | June 13 vs. Sta. Lucia |
| 22 | Terrence Leather | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | June 13 vs. Air21 |
| 23 | Alex Compton | Welcoat Dragons | June 18 vs. Air21 |
| 24 | Brandon Dean | Coca-Cola Tigers | July 13 vs. Magnolia |