# 2006–07 Air21 Express season

The 2006–07 Air21 Express season was the fifth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The season was notable for drafting future superstar Arwind Santos.
In the Philippine Cup, the Express finished in the wildcard round-robin, and ended up against Sta. Lucia Realtors in a knock-out match for final quarterfinal slot, but lost. In the Fiesta Conference, they ended up in the quarterfinals, but lost in Talk 'N Text in 3 games, even they won the Game 1.

## Key dates

* August 20: The 2006 PBA Draft took place in Market! Market!, Taguig.

## Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Height | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 2 | Arwind Santos | 6'4" | Forward | Philippines | FEU |

## Season
### Philippine Cup
#### Team standings

| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Red Bull Barako | 11 | 7 | .611 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 5 | Purefoods Chunkee Giants | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 6 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 7 | Alaska Aces | 8 | 10 | .444 | 5 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 8 | Air21 Express | 7 | 11 | .389 | 6 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 9 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 5 | 13 | .278 | 8 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 10 | Welcoat Dragons | 3 | 15 | .167 | 10 | |
* 1 2 Head-to-head differential: Barangay Ginebra +1, San Miguel −1
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head differential: Talk 'N Text +4, Purefoods +3, Sta. Lucia −7; fifth-seed playoff: Purefoods 92–78 Sta. Lucia

#### Wildcard phase

Cumulative standings :
| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 6 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 11 | 10 | .524 | — | Guaranteed quarterfinals berth playoff |
| 7 | Air21 Express | 10 | 11 | .476 | 1 | Qualified to quarterfinals berth playoff |
| 8 | Alaska Aces | 9 | 12 | .429 | 2 | |
| 9 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 6 | 15 | .286 | 5 | |
Wildcard phase standings :
| Pos | Team | W | L | Qualification |
| 6 | Air21 Express | 3 | 0 | Qualified to quarterfinals berth playoff |
| 7 | Alaska Aces | 1 | 2 | |
| 8 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 1 | 2 | |
| 9 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 1 | 2 | |
* ABC
* January 5
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 7
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* January 10
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

### Quarterfinals berth playoff

* ABC
* January 12
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

### Fiesta Conference
#### Team standings

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Red Bull Barako | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Alaska Aces | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 11 | 7 | .611 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 5 | Air21 Express | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 6 | San Miguel Beermen | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 7 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 7 | 11 | .389 | 6 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 8 | Purefoods Chunkee Giants | 6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 9 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 5 | 13 | .278 | 8 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 10 | Welcoat Dragons | 4 | 14 | .222 | 9 | |
* 1 2 Second-seed playoff: Alaska 103–95 Barangay Ginebra
* 1 2 Fifth-seed playoff: Air21 103–99 San Miguel

#### 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 | San Miguel | 102 | | | | | | | 2 | Alaska | 4 | |
| 9 | Sta. Lucia | 85 | | | | 3 | Brgy. Ginebra | 1 | 6 | San Miguel | 2 | |
| | | | 6 | San Miguel | 102 | 6 | San Miguel | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Coca-Cola | 101 | | | | | | | 2 | Alaska | 4 |
| 7 | Coca-Cola | 100 | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Talk 'N Text | 3 |
| 8 | Purefoods | 97 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Red Bull | 2 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | 4 | Talk 'N Text | 2 | 4 | Talk 'N Text | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Air21 | 1 | | 6 | San Miguel | 96 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Red Bull | 103 |
* view
* talk

#### (4) Talk 'N Text vs. (5) Air21

* ABC
* June 13
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* ABC
* June 15
* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
* ABC
* June 17
* recap
Air21 Express 112, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 114 :
* Talk 'N Text wins series, 2-1 ||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

## Transactions
### Trades

| Traded | to | For |
| Ronald Tubid | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 2007 & 2008 2nd round pick/2009 1st round |
| Traded | to | For |
| Ryan Bernardo, Bruce Dacia | Three-team trade | Kalani Ferreria, Ervin Sotto, Aries Dimaunahan |

### Subtractions

| Player | Signed | New team |
| Gec Chia | March 2007 | Barangay Ginebra Kings |