1989 Añejo Rum 65ers season

The 1989 Añejo Rum 65ers season was the 11th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Draft Picks

• Romy Dela Rosa (1st Round, later traded to Rey Cuenco)
• Peter Aguilar (2nd Round)
• Nandy Garcia (3rd Round)

Season Summary

• Open Conference: the Añejo Rum 65ers missed out the semifinal playoffs for the first time since the 1985 first conference when Robert Jaworski started his dual role of playing-coach, despite having a good import in Darren Queenan, the Rummasters could only show 3 wins in 10 games and were eliminated by Alaska Milk in a do-or-die game.
• Fiesta All Filipino: defending the title they won last year, the 65ers found a rough sailing in the eliminations, finishing with a 6-win, 5-loss card, Añejo was third in the semifinal standings behind Purefoods and San Miguel going into the crucial second round of the semis, when Alaska Milk once again played the spoiler's role that knock the 65ers out from the finals race.
• Reinforced Conference: a red-haired 5"11 Carlos Briggs was Añejo's import in the third conference, a scoring machine who was averaging around 60–70 points with a single-game high of 89 points and a record 84 points in Game Two of the finals series.
• In a must-win situation on November 21 versus Purefoods, needed to win to avail the win-5 semis rule, Añejo trailed 130–134 with 21 seconds left in the ballgame as the Hotdogs seems on a verge of a title-showdown with Grandslam-seeking San Miguel Beer, the 65ers found a way to win, a steal and converted three-point play by Carlos Briggs, had Añejo miraculously survived and won, 135–134.
• The following day, It was reported Purefoods import Dexter Shouse left and abandon his team for the all-important knockout game, Añejo Rum clinch win number five and a playoff match against Purefoods by winning their last semifinal outing over Presto Tivoli.
• The November 26 encounter between Añejo Rum and Purefoods for the right to play San Miguel Beer in the finals was a suspense-thriller, the 65ers buoyed by the crowd-support and the oddsmakers choice to win, defeated Purefoods by a hairline, 113-112, the Hotdogs put up a gallant stand and played its heart out without an import and earned the admiration and respect of a lot of PBA followers.

Roster

_{Assistant Coach: Rino Salazar Team Manager: Bernabe Navarro}

• R – Rookie
• I – Import

References

http://MyPBA.com History of the Ginebra franchise