1998 Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies season

The 1998 Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies season was the 11th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team return to their former name Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs starting the Commissioners Cup.

Off-season transactions

Summary

The Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies lost their first four games in the All-Filipino Cup before picking up their first win against Shell. On February 24, the Beefies held the San Miguel Beermen to a record-low 49 points in a 70-49 victory for their second win, they followed this up with an 83-68 win over Alaska on February 27, ^[1] after their three-game winning streak was halted by Shell, 76-84 on March 6, the Beefies scored two more victories against Gordon's Gin, 93-80 on March 8, ^[2] and Sta.Lucia, 81-75 on March 13. ^[3] In the semifinal round, the Beefies won just three of their 10 semifinal assignments and dropped to fifth place, their lowest finish in an All-Filipino tournament for a team that played in 9 All-Filipino finals for the past 10 seasons.

Former Purefoods import Kenny Redfield, whose last two seasons he played with were Shell and Sta.Lucia, was recalled back for the Commissioner's Cup but he was older and slower this time and was replaced after three games by Khari Jaxon, who lasted one game, scoring only six points in a forgettable debut in Purefoods' 65-79 loss to Mobiline on June 5, Jaxon suffered a leg injury and the Hotdogs had to play their next game without an import before Roy Hairston plane in, the Tender Juicy Hotdogs finish with a 5-6 won-loss slate after the eliminations and despite the twice-to-beat advantage against Formula Shell, the Hotdogs were beaten twice and were eliminated from the final four semifinals.

Former imports Bob McCann and Rodney Monroe were the Hotdogs' reinforcement starting with the sideshow Centennial Cup, Monroe was replaced by Lance Miller after four games, McCann and Miller led Purefoods to a winning record and almost made it to the Governor's Cup finals, losing a playoff game to Mobiline. The Hotdogs placed third, winning their series against the San Miguel Beermen, for their first-ever third-place finish in franchise history.

Occurrences

On March 21, Purefoods formally announced the resignation of head coach Eric Altamirano, who had a contract dispute with the management which did not want to give him a sizeable increase and a guaranteed contract until the end of the 1999 season, Altamirano moved over to Mobiline Phone Pals beginning the Commissioner's Cup, signing a four-year guaranteed contract that has doubled his money earning as that of his stint with Purefoods. Replacing Altamirano at the Purefoods' bench is their former assistant and Shell mentor Chito Narvasa. ^[4]

Roster

Pos. No. Player School F 1 Bong Ravena UE G 3 Elmer Lago De La Salle G 4 Ulysses Tanigue San Sebastian F 5 Edmund Reyes UST F 7 Rey Evangelista UST G 8 Genesis Sasuman Letran G 10 Dindo Pumaren De La Salle C 11 Edward Joseph Feihl Adamson F 16 Alvin Patrimonio Mapua Tech G 22 Henry Fernandez University of Visayas C 27 Stevenson Solomon San Sebastian C 44 Jerry Codinera UE F 3 Kenny Redfield (C) Michigan State University F Khari Jaxon (C) University of New Mexico F 12 Roy Hairston (C) Purdue University G Rodney Monroe (G) North Carolina State University G 14 Lance Miller (G) Villanova University G 30 Bob McCann (G) Morehead State University Position Name/s Head coach:  Chito Narvasa Assistants: Louie Alas (C) - Commissioners Cup Import, (G) - Governors Cup Import '

_{Team Manager: Simon Mossesgeld}

References