# Bataan Risers

The 1Bataan Risers, more commonly known as the Bataan Risers, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the province of Bataan. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. The team splits its home games between Bataan People's Center in Balanga and Orion Sports Complex in Orion.
The Bataan franchise began play in 2018 as one of the MPBL's charter teams, originally going by the Bataan Defenders before switching to its current name the following season. Bataan also fielded a team in 3x3 basketball in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 and has also participated in the 2019 FIBA 3x3 World Tour as the Balanga Chooks.
The team made the playoffs in its first four seasons in the league and held the league's best record in the 2018–19 season under homegrown player Gary David and coach Jojo Lastimosa.
The Risers are one of four teams based in Central Luzon. Since its founding, the team is owned by the Provincial Government of Bataan. The team is also sponsored by Camaya Coast, a Bataan-based residential development, hence the team is also known as the 1Bataan Risers–Camaya Coast.

## History
### 2018–2020: The Gary David era

Bataan joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League as one of the ten charter teams for the league's inaugural season. The Defenders were one of two Central Luzon teams at the time, the other being the Bulacan Kuyas. In their inaugural season, as the Bataan Defenders, the team barely made the playoffs as it shared a 2–7 record with the Imus Bandera, but was able to clinch the last spot as they beat Imus in their head-to-head matchup. The team was swept in the Quarterfinals to the eventual champion Batangas City Athletics.
For the 2018–19 season, the team changed its name to the Bataan Risers. Coincidentally, that season saw the team rise to the league's best record that season with a record of 23–2. After sweeping the Caloocan Supremos in the First Round, they would fall in an upset against the Manila Stars in the Division Semifinals.
In the 2019–20 season, Bataan made the playoffs for the third consecutive season but lost to the Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the First Round.

### 2022–present: The post-David era

The team then opted out of participating in the 2021 Invitational before returning in 2022. During the 2022 season, all of the team's home games were placed at Orion Sports Complex in Orion. where they made the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year, but once again lost to Pampanga in the First Round.
In the 2023 season, Bataan returned to the Bataan People's Center. It also saw the team host that season's All-Star Game. Bataan's race to the playoffs has been close, but unfortunately, they finished the season one game below .500 with a 13–15 record. Placing ninth in the North Division, Bataan missed the playoffs for the first time in the team's history, leaving the Batangas City Embassy Chill as the only founding member to never miss the playoffs.
In the 2024 season, despite keeping their previous all-stars in Arvie Bringas and Yzes Sazon, the Risers only recorded nine wins in 28 games and placing 12th in the North Division. This resulted in the team's worst season since 2018.

## Home venues

The Bataan franchise used the Bataan People's Center as their home venue in every season they played in except 2022, when they exclusively used the Orion Sports Complex (also referred to as Kamalig Sports Complex), which they would later utilize in 2024.
| Venue | Location | 2018 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Bataan People's Center | Balanga, Bataan | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y |
| Orion Sports Complex | Orion, Bataan | N | N | N | Y | N | Y |

## Personnel
### Head coaches

Bataan Risers head coaches :
| # | Name | Start | End | Achievements |
| 1 | Jay Sierra | 2018 | 2018 | — |
| 2 | Kerwin McCoy | 2018 | 2018 | — |
| 3 | Jojo Lastimosa | 2018 | 2019 | Best regular season record (2018–19) |
| 4 | Jong Uichico | 2019 | 2019 | — |
| 5 | Jonas Villanueva | 2019 | 2020 | — |
| 6 | JR Villanueva | 2022 | 2022 | — |
| 7 | Ricky Dandan | 2022 | 2023 | — |
| 8 | Alex Callueng | 2023 | 2023 | — |
| 9 | Rene Baena | 2024 | 2024 | — |
| 10 | Goody Ilagan | 2024 | current | — |

## Season-by-season records

* League champions
* Division champions
* Qualified for playoffs
* Best regular season record
| Season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Division | Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results |
| Bataan Defenders ||||||||||
| 2018 Rajah Cup | — | 8th | 9 | 2 | 7 | .222 | 6 | Quarterfinals | lost vs. Batangas City, 0–2 |
| Bataan Risers ||||||||||
| 2018–19 Datu Cup | North | 1st | 25 | 23 | 2 | .920 | — | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals | won vs Caloocan, 2–0 lost vs. Manila 1–2 |
| 2019–20 Lakan Season | North | 5th | 30 | 20 | 10 | .667 | 6 | Division quarterfinals | lost vs. Pampanga, 0–2 |
| 2022 | North | 5th | 21 | 13 | 8 | .619 | 8 | Division quarterfinals | lost vs. Pampanga, 1–2 |
| 2023 | North | 9th | 28 | 13 | 15 | .464 | 13 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2024 | North | 12th | 28 | 9 | 19 | .321 | 17 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2025 | TBA | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined |
| All-time regular season record | All-time regular season record | All-time regular season record | 141 | 80 | 61 | .567 | | 4 playoff appearances |
| All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | 12 | 4 | 8 | .333 | | 0 finals appearances |
| All-time overall record | All-time overall record | All-time overall record | 153 | 84 | 69 | .549 | | 0 championships |