# 2004–05 PBA Philippine Cup

The 2004–05 PBA Philippine Cup, or known as the 2004–05 Gran Matador Brandy-PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the All-Filipino Conference of the Philippine Basketball Association's (PBA) 2004–05 season.
The Barangay Ginebra Kings won its first back-to-back titles with a 4–2 conquest of the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals. The series was marred by a controversial reversal of the Phone Pals' Game One victory after fielding in an ineligible Asi Taulava in the said game. Taulava was serving an indefinite suspension after being cited as one of six Filipino-American players with questionable citizenship papers.
Eric Menk won another Best Player of the Conference Award, his third in his PBA career.

## Classification round
### Team standings

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Shell Turbo Chargers | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | Twice-to-beat in the wildcard phase |
| 4 | Alaska Aces | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | Twice-to-beat in the wildcard phase |
| 5 | San Miguel Beermen | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | Best-of-three wildcard phase |
| 6 | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4 | Best-of-three wildcard phase |
| 7 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 8 | 10 | .444 | 5 | Best-of-three wildcard phase |
| 8 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | Best-of-three wildcard phase |
| 9 | FedEx Express | 6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | Twice-to-win in the wildcard phase |
| 10 | Red Bull Thunder | 6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | Twice-to-win in the wildcard phase |
* 1 2 Second-seed playoff: Talk 'N Text 85–79 Shell
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head differential: Alaska +16, San Miguel +11, Purefoods −27; fourth-seed playoff: Alaska 98–91 San Miguel
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head differential: Sta. Lucia +15, FedEx +4, Red Bull −19

## Second seed playoff

* ABC
* January 7
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

## Fourth seed playoff

* ABC
* January 7
* recap
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

## Bracket

| Wildcard phase | Wildcard phase | Wildcard phase | Quarterfinals (best-of-3) | Quarterfinals (best-of-3) | Quarterfinals (best-of-3) | Semifinals (best-of-5) | Semifinals (best-of-5) | Semifinals (best-of-5) | Finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) |
| (#4 twice to beat) | (#4 twice to beat) | (#4 twice to beat) | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Alaska | 96 | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Alaska | 96 | | | | 1 | Barangay Ginebra | 3 | | | |
| 9 | FedEx | 93 | | | | 1 | Barangay Ginebra | 3 | | | |
| 9 | FedEx | 93 | 4 | Alaska | 0 | 5 | San Miguel | 2 | | | |
| (best-of-3) | (best-of-3) | (best-of-3) | 4 | Alaska | 0 | 5 | San Miguel | 2 | | | |
| (best-of-3) | (best-of-3) | (best-of-3) | 5 | San Miguel | 2 | | | | | | |
| 5 | San Miguel | 2 | 5 | San Miguel | 2 | | | | | | |
| 5 | San Miguel | 2 | | | | | | | 1 | Barangay Ginebra | 4 |
| 8 | Sta. Lucia | 0 | | | | | | | 1 | Barangay Ginebra | 4 |
| 8 | Sta. Lucia | 0 | | | | | | | 2 | Talk 'N Text | 2 |
| (#3 twice to beat) | (#3 twice to beat) | (#3 twice to beat) | | | | | | | 2 | Talk 'N Text | 2 |
| 3 | Shell | 98 | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Shell | 98 | | | | 2 | Talk 'N Text | 3 | Third-place playoff | Third-place playoff | Third-place playoff |
| 10 | Red Bull | 77 | | | | 2 | Talk 'N Text | 3 | Third-place playoff | Third-place playoff | Third-place playoff |
| 10 | Red Bull | 77 | 3 | Shell | 2 | 3 | Shell | 0 | | | |
| (best-of-3) | (best-of-3) | (best-of-3) | 3 | Shell | 2 | 3 | Shell | 0 | | | |
| (best-of-3) | (best-of-3) | (best-of-3) | 6 | Purefoods | 1 | | | | 5 | San Miguel | 105 |
| 6 | Purefoods | 2 | 6 | Purefoods | 1 | | | | 5 | San Miguel | 105 |
| 6 | Purefoods | 2 | | | | | | | 3 | Shell | 100 |
| 7 | Coca-Cola | 1 | | | | | | | 3 | Shell | 100 |
* view
* talk

## Wildcard phase

The #3 vs. #10 and the #4 vs. #9 matchups are in the "twice-to-beat" format; the team with the higher seed only needs to win once to advance, but needs to be beaten twice in order to be eliminated. The other two matchups are a best-of-three series.

### (3) Shell vs. (10) Red Bull

* ABC
* January 11
* recap
Shell Turbo Chargers 98, Red Bull Barako 77 :
* Shell wins series in one game ||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

### (4) Alaska vs. (9) FedEx

* ABC
* January 11
Alaska Aces 96, FedEx Express 93 :
* Alaska wins series in one game ||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

### (5) San Miguel vs. (8) Sta. Lucia

* ABC
* January 9
* recap
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 12
* recap
San Miguel Beermen 81, Sta. Lucia Realtors 77 :
* San Miguel wins series, 2–0 ||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

### (6) Purefoods vs. (7) Coca-Cola

* ABC
* January 9
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 12
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* ABC
* January 13
Purefoods TJ Hotdogs 74, Coca-Cola Tigers 71 :
* Purefoods wins series, 2–1 ||
* PhilSports Arena, Pasig

## Quarterfinals
### (3) Shell vs. (6) Purefoods

* ABC
* January 14
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* ABC
* January 16
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 18
* recap
Shell Turbo Chargers 106, Purefoods TJ Hotdogs 95 :
* Shell wins series, 2–1 ||
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

### (4) Alaska vs. (5) San Miguel

* ABC
* January 14
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* ABC
* January 16
* recap
Alaska Aces 86, San Miguel Beermen 97 :
* San Miguel wins series, 2–0 ||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

## Semifinals
### (1) Barangay Ginebra vs. (5) San Miguel

* ABC
* January 19
* recap
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 21
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 23
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 26
* recap
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 28
Barangay Ginebra Kings 76, San Miguel Beermen 71 :
* Barangay Ginebra wins series, 3–2 ||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

### (2) Talk 'N Text vs. (3) Shell

* ABC
* January 19
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 21
* recap
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 23
* recap
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 102, Shell Turbo Chargers 96 :
* Talk 'N Text wins series, 3–0 ||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

## Third place playoff

* ABC
* January 30
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

## Finals

The 2004–05 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals was the best-of-7 basketball championship series of the 2004–05 PBA Philippine Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. Barangay Ginebra Kings and Talk 'N Text Phone Pals played for the 88th championship contested by the league.
The Barangay Ginebra Kings won their 6thth league championship with a 4–2 series victory over Talk 'N Text Phone Pals.

### Games

* ABC
* January 30
* boxscore
Barangay Ginebra Kings 71, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 89 :
| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 18–22, 16–22, 18–21 |||
| Pts: Jimmy Alapag 19 Rebs: Willie Miller 10 Asts: Willie Miller 8 | Pts: Eric Menk 23 Rebs: Sunday Salvacion 13 Asts: Rodney Santos 4 |
| Talk 'N Text leads series, 1–0 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 14,093 Referees: Cruz, Montiel, Quilinguen
PBA commissioner Noli Eala forfeits game 1 71–89 in favor of Ginebra since Asi Taulava, who was still suspended by the league, participated in the game. :
* Barangay Ginebra leads series, 1–0
* ABC
* February 2
* boxscore
Barangay Ginebra Kings 106, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 105 :
| Scoring by quarter: 35–32, 32–22, 22–24, 17–27 |||
| Pts: Eric Menk 27 Rebs: Eric Menk 11 Asts: Mark Caguioa 6 | Pts: Willie Miller 22 Rebs: Willie Miller 10 Asts: Willie Miller 10 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 2–0 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 8,698 Referees: Ilagan, Ramos, Herrera
* ABC
* February 4
* boxscore
Barangay Ginebra Kings 66, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 102 :
| Scoring by quarter: 12–25, 20–29, 19–25, 15–23 |||
| Pts: Willie Miller 25 Rebs: de Ocampo, Pablo 9 each Asts: Jimmy Alapag 6 | Pts: Menk, Caguioa 14 each Rebs: Eric Menk 9 Asts: Aries Dimaunahan 8 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 2–1 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 11,149 Referees: Cruz, Calungcaguin, Culanag
* ABC
* February 6
* boxscore
Barangay Ginebra Kings 85, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 90 :
| Scoring by quarter: 26–19, 21–22, 23–20, 15–29 |||
| Pts: Mark Caguioa 43 Rebs: Sunday Salvacion 12 Asts: Eric Menk 5 | Pts: Willie Miller 29 Rebs: Yancy de Ocampo 10 Asts: Jimmy Alapag 8 |
| Talk 'N Text ties series, 2–2 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 14,257 Referees: Ilagan, Ramos, Aldaba
* ABC
* February 9
* boxscore
Barangay Ginebra Kings 95, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 85 (2OT) :
| Scoring by quarter: 14–23, 19–9, 24–26, 16–15, Overtime: 8–8, 14–4 |||
| Pts: Victor Pablo 27 Rebs: Victor Pablo 10 Asts: Jimmy Alapag 11 | Pts: Mark Caguioa 26 Rebs: Eric Menk 16 Asts: Dimaunahan, Santos 6 each |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 3–2 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 11,723 Referees: Cruz, Montiel, Aldaba
* ABC
* February 11
* boxscore
Barangay Ginebra Kings 96, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 86 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–14, 22–31, 22–12, 32–29 |||
| Pts: Eric Menk 39 Rebs: Eric Menk 19 Asts: Caguioa, Santos 4 each | Pts: Jimmy Alapag 23 Rebs: Mark Telan 12 Asts: Miller, Alapag 4 each |
| Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–2 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 18,287 Referees: Cruz, Montiel, Culanag
On January 26, 2005, Judge Rogelio Pizarro of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 222 issued a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction "commanding and directing" the PBA to allow Taulava "to play in the current All Filipino Conference and succeeding Conferences of the PBA" during the term of his contract. This was after Taulava passed citizenship papers that should've allowed him to play in the league; earlier, he was indefinitely suspended from playing after his Filipino citizenship was nullified (only Filipinos are allowed to play in the Philippine Cup).
The PBA Board of Governors refused to honor the court order, upholding Commissioner Noli Eala's suspension of Taulava after consultation with the league's legal counsel. Taulava's lawyer Ed Francisco charged Eala with giving the board wrong legal advice. Taulava did play at game 1, in which Talk 'N Text won easily 89–71. As Taulava was being introduced, the pro-Ginebra crowd jeered him as the outnumbered Talk 'N Text crowd greeted him with cheers, displaying placards with a message "Welcome Back!" Eala himself had considered quitting his commissioner's post as he received a phone call "to make sure that Asi Taulava be allowed to play". After the game, Barangay Ginebra filed a protest to the commissioner's office. Talk 'N Text intends to play Taulava for the entire duration of the series.
Barangay Ginebra reportedly indicated that the team may forfeit the finals series if Taulava continues to be allowed to play and game 1 won't be forfeited. The league has issued a motion for reconsideration on the court order, and Eala said that Talk 'N Text may face sanctions for violating league rules. In a board meeting on February 1, there was a "heated clash" between Eala and Talk 'N Text alternate representative Paul Gueco in which Gueco reportedly challenged Eala to make a decision on the Taulava case by himself and to tell Talk N Text what his decision was, a statement supported by board chairman Buddy Encarnado of the Sta. Lucia Realtors.
Talk 'N Text did not field Taulava in game 2 "in the interest of the Philippine Basketball Association and the public", even though Eala was filed of contempt charges, and Talk 'N Text's game 1 win was forfeited against Ginebra. The Gin Kings won against Talk 'N Text by one point, thanks to Eric Menk's last basket with 5.2 seconds left to play. Ginebra's defense disallowed an attempt from the Phone Pals, leading to the 2–0 series lead.
Francisco pointed out that new rules and regulations covering the eligibility of Filipino-foreign players such as Taulava, who was declared eligible by the PBA based on the Bureau of Immigration clearance and Department of Justice (DOJ) affirmation in 2001, cannot be subject to additional rules or conditions imposed retroactively and any such changes can only be applied prospectively. The DOJ, for its part, considered on intervening and seek a reversal of the court's ruling allowing the cager to play anew in the PBA despite the DOJ's findings that he is not a Filipino; although they won't intervene if the Court of Appeals would rule favorably on the justice department's petition seeking to lift an injunction against it issued by the Manila RTC on the separate issue of Taulava's deportation. DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez said that the rulings of the Quezon City and Manila RTC constitute "undue interference by the courts." Parañaque Congressman Eduardo Zialcita would seek a congressional inquiry into Eala's "continued defiance" on the court orders.
Negros Oriental Congressman Jacinto Paras asked the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) to investigate Eala for his "questionable and dictatorial acts" as the PBA is under the direct jurisdiction of the GAB. Meanwhile, the Phone Pals appealed to the Board of Governors to reverse Eala's prior decisions of forfeiting game 1 and for the reinstatement of Taulava. Meanwhile, with all of the publicity, the tournament scored the highest TV ratings in years, with ratings of at least 11% and an audience share of at least 17.4%.