# Manila Batang Quiapo

The Manila Batang Quiapo are a Filipino professional basketball team based in Manila and representing the district of Quiapo. 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 San Andres Sports Complex in Malate and Paco Arena in Paco.
The Manila franchise was founded as an expansion team for the 2018–19 MPBL season as the Manila Stars and saw early success in its first two seasons with Chris Bitoon and Aris Dionisio leading the team, making the division finals in 2019. The team is also noted for its acquisition of Greg Slaughter in 2024, during which the team gained the backing of businessman Sam Verzosa and the Strong Group Athletics organization and were renamed the Manila SV Batang Sampaloc. The team also competed in the Pilipinas Super League from 2022 to 2024 as the Manila CityStars.
The Batang Sampaloc are currently the only team based in the Capital District of Metro Manila.

## History
### Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
#### 2019–2020: The Bitoon–Dionisio era

The nation's capital joined the MPBL for the 2018–19 season, and in its first season, made an instant impact. Led by the duo of Chris Bitoon and Aris Dionisio, the team finished 20–5, tying with San Juan and Davao Occidental for the league's third-best record, as the Stars clinch the fourth seed in the 2019 playoffs. After getting past Caloocan in the First Round, they met with the league-leading Bataan Risers in the North Division Semifinals. Although Bataan won game 1, Manila pushed through the next two games to finish the upset and advance to the North Division Finals against San Juan. The series went in a similar way but in the opposite manner, as Manila won game 1 but with San Juan winning the next two to advance to the National Finals and eventually win the championship. At the end of the season, Dionisio won MPBL Defensive Player of the Year. He and Bitoon were also selected to the All-MPBL First Team and declared all-stars.
Manila came back stronger for the 2019–20 season, finishing 25–5, clinching the second seed in the 2020 playoffs. The team first beat Pasig in the First Round, but feel short in the Division Semifinals against Makati. Once again, Manila won game 1, yet Makati won the rest of the series. Dionisio became a two-time all-star while he and Bitoon both made the All-MPBL Second Team.

#### 2021–2023: Out of contention

For the 2021 Invitational, Manila tapped Pocholo Villanueva as their head coach, but only finished third in Group D, failing to make the playoffs. Villanueva would later depart for the Batangas City Embassy Chill. Following the departures of both Bitoon and Dionisio, Manila spent the next two seasons missing the playoffs, finishing 6–15 and 4–23 in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, respectively.

#### 2024–present: Return to form

In the 2024 season, the team gained the backing of the Strong Group Athletics organization, and would later be renamed as the Manila Batang Sampaloc, or officially, the Manila SV Batang Sampaloc SGA. Their 2024 campaign is noted for their acquisition of four-time PBA champion Greg Slaughter among other ex-PBA players. With their new acquisitions, the team finished the season 20–8 for their best output since 2020 and once again claiming a top-4 position. Slaughter and Rabeh Al-Hussaini were declared all-stars in the 2024 MPBL All-Star Game.
However, despite that, Manila fell short in the playoffs, losing to the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo in a division quarterfinals sweep, with both games being separated by one point. After the series, the organization stated that they are unsure if they will return for the 2025 MPBL season, citing financial difficulties and "uneven officiating".

### Pilipinas Super League

The Stars came to the PSL for the 2022 DUMPER Cup during the MPBL's off-season. Finishing 9–6 in the conference, Manila tied with Boracay and Bulacan for seventh. The team managed to settle for eighth but lost to the San Juan Kings in the quarterfinals.

## Team identity

The original Stars name can be traced back to the Manila Metrostars of the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association. The team's logos until 2023 featured silhouettes of some of Manila's historic landmarks, such as the Rizal Monument and Manila Cathedral. Manila's color scheme has always used blue as the primary color.

## Home venues

The Manila franchise has played most of their home games at San Andres Sports Complex since joining the MPBL. In 2022 and 2024, a portion of their home slate was played at Paco Arena.
| Venue | Location | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| San Andres Sports Complex | Manila | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Paco Arena | Manila | N | N | Y | N | Y |

## Current roster
### Head coaches

Manila Batang Quiapo head coaches :
| # | Name | Start | End | Achievements |
| 1 | Philip Cezar | 2018 | 2019 | — |
| 2 | Tino Pinat | 2019 | 2020 | — |
| 3 | Pocholo Villanueva | 2021 | 2021 | — |
| 4 | Maximino Dayandante Jr. | 2022 | 2022 | — |
| 5 | Tylon Darjuan | 2023 | 2023 | — |
| 6 | Bam Ledesma | 2023 | 2023 | — |
| 7 | Bimbot Anquilo | 2023 | 2023 | — |
| 8 | Gabby Severino | 2024 | 2024 | — |
| 9 | Ariel Vanguardia | 2024 | current | — |

## Season-by-season records

* League champions
* Division champions
* Qualified for playoffs
* Best regular season record

### Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

| 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 |
| Manila Stars ||||||||||
| 2018–19 Datu Cup | North | 4th | 25 | 20 | 5 | .800 | 3 | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals | won vs. Bulacan, 2–0 won vs. Bataan, 2–1 lost vs. San Juan, 1–2 |
| 2019–20 Lakan Season | North | 2nd | 30 | 25 | 5 | .833 | 1 | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals | won vs. Pasig, 2–0 lost vs. Makati, 1–2 |
| 2022 | North | 10th | 21 | 6 | 15 | .286 | 15 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2023 | North | 13th | 27 | 4 | 23 | .148 | 21.5 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| Manila SV Batang Sampaloc ||||||||||
| 2024 | North | 4th | 28 | 20 | 8 | .714 | 6 | Division quarterfinals | lost vs. Caloocan, 0–2 |
| Manila Batang Quiapo ||||||||||
| 2025 | TBA | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be announced | To be announced |
| All-time regular season record | All-time regular season record | All-time regular season record | 131 | 75 | 56 | .573 | | 3 playoff appearances | 3 playoff appearances | 3 playoff appearances |
| All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | 15 | 8 | 7 | .533 | | 0 finals appearances | 0 finals appearances | 0 finals appearances |
| All-time overall record | All-time overall record | All-time overall record | 146 | 83 | 63 | .568 | | 0 championships | 0 championships | 0 championships |

### Pilipinas Super League

| Season | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results |
| Manila CityStars |||||||
| 2022–23 DUMPER Cup | 8th | 9 | 6 | .600 | Quarterfinals | lost vs. San Juan, 0–1 |
| 2023–24 President's Cup | 14th | 5 | 13 | .278 | First Round | lost vs. Nueva Ecija, 0–1 |
| All-time elimination round record | All-time elimination round record | 14 | 19 | .424 | 2 playoff appearances | 2 playoff appearances | 2 playoff appearances |
| All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 Finals appearances | 0 Finals appearances | 0 Finals appearances |
| All-time overall record | All-time overall record | 9 | 7 | .400 | 0 championships | 0 championships | 0 championships |