# 2009–10 Air21 Express season

The 2009–10 Air21 Express season was the eighth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). In the Philippine Cup, they were known as Burger King Whoppers.

## Key dates

* August 2: The 2009 PBA Draft took place in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

## Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Height | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 1 | Japeth Aguilar | 6'9" | Power forward/center | Philippines | Ateneo, Western Kentucky |
| 1 | 4 | Chris Ross | 6'1" | Point guard | United States | Marshall |
| 1 | 7 | Rogemar Menor | 6'2" | Shooting guard | Philippines | San Beda |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Alaska Aces | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 13 | 5 | .722 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 5 | Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters | 11 | 7 | .611 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 6 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 7 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 8 | Burger King Whoppers | 6 | 12 | .333 | 7 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 9 | Rain or Shine Elasto Painters | 4 | 14 | .222 | 9 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 10 | Barako Bull Energy Boosters | 3 | 15 | .167 | 10 | |
| — | Smart Gilas (G) | 3 | 6 | .333 | 5.5 | Guest team |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Alaska 2–0 San Miguel
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Purefoods 1–1 Barangay Ginebra; Purefoods 0, Barangay Ginebra 0; overall point differential: Purefoods +85, Barangay Ginebra +75
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Burger King 1–1, Coca-Cola; Burger King +10, Coca-Cola −10
* ↑ Smart Gilas's results do not count in the standings.

#### Game log
##### Eliminations

2010 PBA Philippine Cup game log :
October
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
October 11
Purefoods
80–93
Lanete (14)
Quiñahan (10)
Lanete, Quiñahan (4)
Araneta Coliseum
0–1
2
October 16
Smart Gilas*
115–105
Buenafe (25)
Belga (11)
Buenafe (7)
Araneta Coliseum
3
October 21
San Miguel
99–117
R. Yee (17)
R. Yee (10)
Billones (6)
Cuneta Astrodome
0–2
4
October 24
Rain or Shine
91–89
Buenafe (22)
Belga, R. Yee (10)
Lanete (6)
Gingoog, Misamis Oriental
1–2
5
October 30
Sta. Lucia
93–101
David (23)
R. Yee (11)
Buenafe, Lanete (4)
Araneta Coliseum
1–3 :
November
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
6
November 6
Alaska
73–87
Buenafe (15)
Quiñahan (9)
Buenafe (5)
Cuneta Astrodome
1–4
7
November 14
Barangay Ginebra
79–83
Matias (12)
R. Yee (9)
R. Yee (5)
Tubod, Lanao del Norte
1–5
8
November 18
Coca Cola
106–97
M. Yee, Buenafe (19)
Belga (10)
Belga, Williams (4)
Araneta Coliseum
2–5
9
November 20
Barako Bull
102–86
Buenafe (17)
Quiñahan, M. Yee (7)
Quiñahan (7)
Araneta Coliseum
3–5
10
November 27
Talk 'N Text
105–118
David (24)
Sharma (6)
David (4)
Ynares Center
3–6
11
November 29
San Miguel
85–100
R. Yee (14)
Matias (8)
Buenafe, Quiñahan (4)
Ynares Sports Arena
3–7 :
December
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
12
December 6
Rain or Shine
101–99
M. Yee (21)
Quiñahan (9)
Lanete (5)
Araneta Coliseum
4–7
13
December 11
Talk 'N Text
104–115
David (26)
Quiñahan, M. Yee (7)
Quiñahan, 2 others (4)
Ynares Center
4–8
14
December 13
Coca Cola
94–106
David (23)
Buenafe (7)
Lanete, M. Yee (3)
Araneta Coliseum
4–9
15
December 18
Barako Bull
102–99
R. Yee (21)
Quiñahan (12)
Billones (5)
Araneta Coliseum
5–9
16
December 25
Purefoods
74–85
Belga (15)
Belga, R. Yee (7)
Lanete (6)
Cuneta Astrodome
5–10 :
January
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17
January 8
Sta. Lucia
79–83
Cabagnot (17)
Cabagnot (9)
Williams (4)
Cuneta Astrodome
5–11
18
January 17
Barangay Ginebra
104–122
Belga (17)
Quiñahan (7)
Cabagnot (7)
Araneta Coliseum
5–12
19
January 20
Alaska
87–80
Quiñahan (23)
Quiñahan (10)
Cabagnot (7)
Cuneta Astrodome
6–12 :
2009–10 schedule :

##### Playoffs

2010 PBA Philippine Cup playoffs game log :
Wildcard
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
January 24
Coca Cola
112–118
Buenafe (27)
R. Yee (12)
Buenafe (5)
Ynares Center
0–1 :
2009–10 schedule :

## Fiesta Conference
### Eliminations
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters | 15 | 3 | .833 | — | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | San Miguel Beermen | 13 | 5 | .722 | 2 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Derby Ace Llamados | 13 | 5 | .722 | 2 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Alaska Aces | 11 | 7 | .611 | 4 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 5 | Barangay Ginebra Kings | 9 | 9 | .500 | 6 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 6 | Rain or Shine Elasto Painters | 9 | 9 | .500 | 6 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 7 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 8 | 10 | .444 | 7 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 8 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 5 | 13 | .278 | 10 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 9 | Air21 Express | 4 | 14 | .222 | 11 | Advance to wildcard round |
| 10 | Barako Energy Coffee Masters | 3 | 15 | .167 | 12 | |
* 1 2 Second seed playoff: San Miguel 88, Derby Ace 83
* 1 2 Fifth seed playoff: Barangay Ginebra 115, Rain or Shine 88

#### Game log
## Transactions
### Pre-season

| Burger King Whoppers | Players Added Via Draft Japeth Aguilar Chris Ross Rogemar Menor Via Free Agency Chico Lanete (From Barangay Ginebra) Ronnie Matias (From Barako Bull) Richard Yee Via Trade Ronjay Buenafe (From Coca-Cola) Orlando Daroya (From Barangay Ginebra) | Players Lost Via Free Agency Marvin Cruz Via Trade Rogemar Menor (To Barako Bull) Chris Ross (To Coca-Cola) Arwind Santos (To San Miguel) Pocholo Villanueva (To Barangay Ginebra) |

### Philippine Cup

| October 12, 2009 | To Burger King4 first round picks from Barako Bull (2010, 2012) and Talk 'N Text (2013 and 2014). Cash considerations | To Barako BullOrlando Daroya | To Talk 'N TextJapeth Aguilar |
| January 4, 2010 | To Burger KingAlex Cabagnot Wesley Gonzales | To Coca ColaGary David Chico Lanete |

### Mid-season break

| March 3, 2010 | To Air21Yancy de Ocampo Renren Ritualo | To Talk 'N TextJR Quiñahan Mark Yee Aaron Aban |
| March 8, 2010 | To Air21Rich Alvarez Doug Kramer first round pick (2010) | To Barangay GinebraYancy de Ocampo second round pick (2010) |
| March 8, 2010 | To Air21Mike Cortez | To San MiguelAlex Cabagnot |

### Fiesta Conference

| June 12, 2010 | To Air21Billy Mamaril | To Barangay GinebraMike Cortez |

#### Imports recruited

| Team | Player | Debuted | Final |
| Air21 Express | Keena Young (1/4) | March 24, 2010 | April 9, 2010 |
| Air21 Express | Jason Forte (2/4) | April 14, 2010 | April 18, 2010 |
| Air21 Express | Reggie Larry (3/4) | May 1, 2010 | May 28, 2010 |
| Air21 Express | Leroy Hickerson (4/4) | June 4, 2010 | July 4, 2010 |