# 2007–08 Air21 Express season

The 2007–08 Air21 Express season was the sixth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
After drafting Ateneo stars on the draft day, Express finished in the Wildcard in the Philippine Cup. But a surprising and dominant in the Fiesta Conference, Express reached the PBA finals for the first time, only losing to Ginebra after having a 3–2 lead.

## Key dates

* August 19: The 2007 PBA draft took place in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

## Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Height | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 4 | JC Intal | 6'4" | SF | Philippines | Ateneo de Manila |
| 1 | 5 | Doug Kramer | 6'4" | PF | Philippines | Ateneo de Manila |
| 1 | 8 | Yousif Aljamal | 6'4" | SF / PF | Philippines | San Beda Manila |
| 2 | 14 | Marvin Cruz | 5'8" | PG | Philippines | UP Diliman |
| 2 | 20 | RJ Masbang | | | Philippines | East |

## Philippine Cup
### Eliminations
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | 12 | 6 | .667 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 12 | 6 | .667 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Alaska Aces | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Red Bull Barako | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 5 | Magnolia Beverage Masters | 10 | 8 | .556 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 6 | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 9 | 9 | .500 | 3 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 7 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 8 | 10 | .444 | 4 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 8 | Air21 Express | 7 | 11 | .389 | 5 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 9 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 7 | 11 | .389 | 5 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 10 | Welcoat Dragons | 3 | 15 | .167 | 9 | |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Purefoods 2–0 Sta. Lucia
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Alaska 1–1 Red Bull (Alaska +29)
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Air21 2–0 Coca-Cola

### 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 Express | MBM | ALA | RBB | Coke | SLR | PF | BGK | TNT | RBB | WEL | BGK | ALA | PF | TNT | Coke | MBM | WEL | SLR |
| Alaska Aces | TNT | A21 | Coke | BGK | WEL | MBM | RBB | PF | WEL | Coke | BGK | SLR | A21 | SLR | MBM | RBB | TNT | PF |
| Barangay Ginebra Kings | RBB | TNT | WEL | ALA | PF | SLR | A21 | MBM | Coke | WEL | ALA | A21 | SLR | MBM | Coke | PF | RBB | TNT |
| Coca-Cola Tigers | WEL | ALA | MBM | A21 | PF | SLR | TNT | BGK | ALA | SLR | RBB | MBM | WEL | BGK | A21 | PF | RBB | TNT |
| Magnolia Beverage Masters | A21 | SLR | PF | Coke | TNT | ALA | WEL | BGK | RBB | PF | TNT | RBB | Coke | BGK | ALA | A21 | SLR | WEL |
| Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | SLR | TNT | MBM | WEL | BGK | Coke | A21 | RBB | ALA | SLR | MBM | TNT | WEL | A21 | BGK | Coke | ALA | RBB |
| Red Bull Barako | BGK | WEL | A21 | SLR | TNT | ALA | PF | MBM | TNT | A21 | Coke | MBM | SLR | WEL | ALA | BGK | Coke | PF |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | PF | MBM | TNT | RBB | A21 | BGK | Coke | WEL | PF | Coke | ALA | BGK | RBB | ALA | TNT | WEL | MBM | A21 |
| Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | ALA | PF | BGK | SLR | MBM | RBB | WEL | Coke | A21 | RBB | MBM | PF | WEL | A21 | SLR | ALA | BGK | Coke |
| Welcoat Dragons | Coke | RBB | BGK | PF | ALA | TNT | MBM | SLR | ALA | BGK | A21 | PF | TNT | Coke | RBB | SLR | A21 | MBM |

### 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 | Talk 'N Text | 73 | | | | | | | 3 | Alaska | 3 | |
| 9 | Coca-Cola | 81 | | | | 3 | Alaska | 2 | 2 | Sta. Lucia | 4 | |
| | | | 9 | Coca-Cola | 109 | 9 | Coca-Cola | 0 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Air21 | 102 | | | | | | | 2 | Sta. Lucia | 4 |
| 7 | Brgy. Ginebra | 110 | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Purefoods | 3 |
| 8 | Air21 | 119 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Purefoods | 4 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | 4 | Red Bull | 2 | 4 | Red Bull | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Magnolia | 0 | | 3 | Alaska | 104 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Red Bull | 125 |
* view
* talk

## Fiesta Conference
### Eliminations

| 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 Express | WEL | RBB | PF | Coke | TNT | ALA | BGK | SLR | Coke | MBM | BGK | RBB | SLR | ALA | TNT | WEL | MBM | PF |
| Alaska Aces | SLR | BGK | MBM | WEL | RBB | A21 | TNT | PF | Coke | RBB | TNT | PF | A21 | WEL | SLR | Coke | MBM | BGK |
| Barangay Ginebra Kings | RBB | ALA | SLR | Coke | MBM | PF | A21 | TNT | WEL | A21 | MBM | RBB | SLR | PF | Coke | TNT | WEL | ALA |
| Coca-Cola Tigers | TNT | PF | WEL | A21 | BGK | SLR | RBB | MBM | ALA | A21 | RBB | WEL | PF | TNT | BGK | MBM | ALA | SLR |
| Magnolia Beverage Masters | PF | SLR | ALA | TNT | BGK | WEL | RBB | Coke | PF | A21 | BGK | TNT | WEL | RBB | SLR | Coke | A21 | ALA |
| Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | MBM | Coke | A21 | RBB | WEL | BGK | ALA | MBM | TNT | SLR | ALA | Coke | WEL | BGK | RBB | TNT | SLR | A21 |
| Red Bull Barako | BGK | A21 | TNT | PF | ALA | Coke | MBM | SLR | WEL | ALA | Coke | A21 | BGK | MBM | PF | WEL | TNT | SLR |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | ALA | MBM | BGK | TNT | Coke | WEL | RBB | A21 | TNT | WEL | PF | A21 | BGK | MBM | ALA | PF | Coke | RBB |
| Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | Coke | WEL | RBB | MBM | SLR | A21 | ALA | WEL | BGK | SLR | PF | ALA | MBM | Coke | A21 | PF | BGK | RBB |
| Welcoat Dragons | 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

#### Semifinals

| Wins | Date | July 20 | July 23 | July 25 | July 27 | July 30 | August 1 |
| Wins | | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 |
| 4 | Air21 (1) | 87 | 103 | 82 | 102 | 82 | 99 |
| 2 | Magnolia (5) | 113 | 102 | 78 | 104 | 72 | 91 |

#### Finals

| Wins | Date | August 6 | August 8 | August 10 | August 13 | August 15 | August 17 | August 20 |
| Wins | | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| 3 | Air21 (1) | 96 | 124 | 97 | 77 | 76 | 75 | 84 |
| 4 | Barangay Ginebra (3) | 105 | 90 | 87 | 90 | 73 | 80 | 97 |

### Notable events

* Air21 Express' Homer Se was fined P20,000 for a flagrant foul-penalty 1 on their game against the Sta. Lucia Realtors when he put up a fighting stance after the looseball scramble between Williams and Air21 guard Wynne Arboleda directed towards SLR rookie Ryan Reyes and import Jamar Brown.