1987 Hills Bros. Coffee Kings season

1987 Hills Bros. Coffee Kings season
Head coach	Nat Canson Arturo Valenzona
Owner(s)	Alaska Milk Corporation
Open Conference results Record 5–10 (.333) Place 5th Playoff finish Quarterfinals All-Filipino Conference results Record 12–7 (.632) Place 2nd Playoff finish Finals Reinforced Conference results Record 12–12 (.500) Place 2nd Playoff finish Finals Stats @ PBA-Online.net Hills Bros. Coffee Kings seasons 1986 1988

The 1987 Hills Bros. Coffee Kings season was the 2nd season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Off-season transactions

TRANSACTIONS
Bogs Adornado ^Acquired from Shell when they traded Rey Cuenco and rookie pick Al Solis (chosen at #2)
Elpidio Villamin ^Acquired from Defunct Manila Beer Brewmasters
Timoteo Coloso ^Acquired from Defunct Manila Beer Brewmasters
Adonis Tierra ^Acquired from Defunct Manila Beer Brewmasters
Joey Marquez ^Acquired from Ginebra San Miguel

Awards

Elpidio "Yoyoy" Villamin was awarded Most Outstanding Pro Player of the year for the 1987 season by the Sports and Columnist Organization of the Philippines (SCOOP). Villamin was also named Most Improved Player for the season by the PBA and he made it to the Mythical five selection, placing second to Alberto Guidaben for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) plum.

Notable dates

March 31: Import Francois Wise scored 46 points as the Coffee Kings beat Formula Shell, 102-98, in a come-from-behind victory. Both teams were winless in two games before their match. Wise came back with his fourth team in five years, replacing Tony Neal.^[1]

July 12: Bogs Adornado scored on a jumper and a foul from Leo Austria with two seconds left to eked out a 104-101 win over Formula Shell at the start of the All-Filipino Conference. The Spark Aiders battled back from a 94-101 deficit to level the count at 101-all with 20 seconds remaining on a rare four-point play and a three-pointer from Leo Austria.

August 9: Yoyoy Villamin produced his first triple-double performance of 20 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists to power Hills Bros. to a 107-103 victory over Great Taste at the start of the semifinal round in the All-Filipino Conference.^[2]

October 13: After two losses, Hills Bros. scored their first win in the Reinforced Conference, routing San Miguel Beer, 129-94, import Jose Slaughter scored 52 points for the Coffee Kings, the Beermen absorbed its first setback in four games.^[3]

October 18: Jose Slaughter scored 79 points and a record-breaking 14 triples in Hills Bros' 129-115 win over Great Taste Instant Milk. Slaughter's feat surpasses the 13 three-pointers previously made by Rob Williams of Tanduay Rhum last season.^[4]

December 1: Jose Slaughter sank in the follow-up shot with two seconds left that carried Hills Bros. to an 89-87 victory over Ginebra San Miguel in their knockout game and sent the Coffee Kings into the championship playoffs against San Miguel Beer.^[5]

Occurrences

Former Tanduay coach Arturo Valenzona takes over from Nat Canson, who resigned as the Coffee Kings head coach after the PBA/IBA series, Canson led Hills Bros. to a runner-up finish in the All-Filipino Conference.

Finals stint

The Coffee Kings had two bridesmaid finishes for the season, losing to Great Taste Coffee in the All-Filipino Conference and San Miguel Beermen in the Reinforced Conference.

Roster

Hills Bros. Coffee Kings roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From F 2 Alolor, Alejo 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) University of Visayas G 4 Lim, Frankie 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) San Beda College G 6 Marquez, Joey 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Angeles University G 7 Saldaña, Marte 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Far Eastern F 9 Valenciano, Ludovico 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) La Salle-Bacolod C 12 Alfarero, Teodicio 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) De La Salle F 13 Villamin, Elpidio 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) F 15 Relosa, Ricardo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Mapua (Jrs) F 22 Abbatuan, Dennis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jose Rizal College G 26 Tierra, Adonis 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) FEATI University G 32 Coloso, Timoteo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Letran College F 33 Adornado, Bogs 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) UST F/C 44 Neal, Tony (I) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Cal State Fullerton F/C 5 Wise, Francois (I) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Long Beach State G/F 21 Slaughter, Jose (I) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) University of Portland	Head coach Nat Canson Arturo Valenzona Assistant coach(es) Cholo Martin Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie Injured

^{Team Manager: Joel Aquino}

References

1. Hills Bros. leaves Shell in cellar
2. Hills Bros. rolls back Great Taste
3. Hills Bros. zaps SMB
4. Hills scuttles Great Taste
5. Hills is in