1997 Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies season

1997 Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies season
Head coach	Eric Altamirano
Owner(s)	Purefoods Corporation
All-Filipino Cup results
Record	18–10 (64.3%)
Place	1st
Playoff finish	Champions (defeated Gordon's Gin 4–2)
Commissioner's Cup results
Record	3–7 (30%)
Place	8th
Playoff finish	Eliminated
Governors Cup results
Record	13–12 (52%)
Place	2nd
Playoff finish	Runner-up
Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies seasons

The 1997 Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies season was the 10th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team was known as Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys in the All-Filipino Cup and Commissioner's Cup.

Draft pick

Round	Pick	Player	College
1	2	Freche Ang	USLS

All-Filipino Cup title

The Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys won the All-Filipino Cup title at the expense of Gordon's Gin Boars. Coach Eric Altamirano, who replaces Chot Reyes at the start of the season, became the youngest coach to steer his team to a PBA crown.

Main article: 1997 PBA All-Filipino Cup Finals

Runner-up finish

In the Governors Cup, Purefoods advances into the championship series for the second time in the season by winning their best-of-five semifinal series against San Miguel Beermen, three games to two.

Going up against the defending champion Alaska Milkmen in the finals, the Carne Norte Beefies won Game one, but lost the last four games to settled for a second place finish in the season-ending conference.

Main article: 1997 PBA Governors Cup Finals

Occurrences

On July 21, pre-season acquisition Cris Bolado was traded to Gordon's Gin in exchange for Edward Joseph Feihl, who hold out of his contract with the Boars, Feihl began playing for Purefoods in the Governors Cup.

Two imports by the same name of Mike Jones played for Purefoods in the season, the first one was a third round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1988 NBA draft and who played in the Commissioners Cup, replacing their former import Ronnie Grandison, who return to the team he played with back in 1993 but couldn't lead the Cowboys to victories this time.

The other Mike Jones was from Rutgers University, who played in the Governors Cup finals and he started out with the Beefies in their fourth outing in the Governors Cup after temporary import Eric Brown fill in for Jones in the first three games.

Award

• Alvin Patrimonio won his fourth Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy, tying the record of Ramon Fernandez' four MVPs.

Roster

Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G/F 1 Ravena, Bong 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) UE G/F 3 Lago, Elmer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) De La Salle F 5 Reyes, Edmund 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) UST F 7 Evangelista, Rey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) UST G 8 Sasuman, Genesis 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Letran G 10 Pumaren, Dindo 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) De La Salle C 11 Feihl, Edward Joseph 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) Adamson F 16 Patrimonio, Alvin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Mapúa G 19 Ang, Freche 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) USLS F 23 Dela Rosa, Reuben 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) C 24 Bolado, Cris 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) National-U C 44 Codinera, Jerry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) UE C 55 Cabatu, Sonny 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) PSBA F 88 Mosqueda, Cadel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Arellano	Head coach Eric Altamirano Assistant coach(es) Louie Alas Frankie Lim Ryan Gregorio Legend (C) Team captain Injured

Transactions

Trades

Off season	To Alaska Rodney Santos Bryant Punsalan	To Purefoods Cris Bolado
	To Mobiline Glenn Capacio	To Purefoods Cadel Mosqueda
	To San Miguel Olsen Racela	To Purefoods 1999 and 2000 draft picks
July 21, 1997	To Gordon's Gin Cris Bolado	To Purefoods E.J. Feihl

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Elmer Lago	Off-season	Formula Shell
Genesis Sasuman		Rookie Free agent
Sonny Cabatu	April 1997	Ginebra (1995)

Recruited imports

Tournament	Name	Number	Position	University/College	Duration
Commissioner's Cup	Ronnie Grandison	20	Forward	UNO	June 13–29
	Mike Jones	45	Forward	Auburn	July 4–22
Governors' Cup	Eric Brown	12	Guard/forward		September 20–28
	Mike Jones	24	Guard/forward	Rutgers	October 3 to December 14