Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
    View Today
    Sun, Nov 5

    Year of the Dragons: How MBA's first champions came together 25 years ago

    Twenty-five years since that historic MBA title, the Pampanga Dragons still hold a special place in the hearts of their fans
    Aug 2, 2023
    pampanga dragons mba champions

    GIL Cortez still remembered that one call 25 years ago. It was former Tourism secretary Jose Antonio 'Tony' Gonzales at the other end of the line.

    "He introduced himself and after some niceties told me that he wanted to meet," Cortez, the PBA's first Rookie of the Year and the sports administrator of Pampanga at that time, says looking back on the events leading up to the formation of the province's own team for the maiden Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) season in 1998.

    "JAG [Gonzales] told me, 'I'd like you to handle, coach, and manage the team," Cortez recalls. "But I told him that I believe in good organization, so I looked for a veteran coach. Alam ko mga Kapampangan [players], maniniwala lang sila sa matandang coach."

    jose antonio tony gonzales mba gil cortez

    Gonzales and son Anton, who named the team after their Mondragon company, had by then ordered the start of tryouts under Allan 'Jacobs' Trinidad, but it was only until Cortez arrived as team manager that things really got moving.

    The first building bloc was the coach, and Cortez bared he came close to signing Joel Banal. But the former PBA star, who also has Pampanga roots, wanted to bring in some of his players. He ended up coaching the Pasig Pirates instead.

    "Hindi kami nagkasundo dahil gusto nga ng management na predominantly mga taga-Pampanga ang mga players," says Cortez.

    READ: Former PBA player Long David enjoys fruits of his labor

    The Dragons' second choice wasn't all that bad; he was in fact perfect. Veteran Aric Del Rosario from Candaba town had overseen a UAAP four-peat at UST and was an assistant to Tim Cone in Alaska's grand slam run in 1996.

    ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

    Del Rosario was a strict drillmaster and father figure to the Dragons, who were all homegrown at the start: Eric Gascon and Egay Ignacio were from San Fernando town; Arnold Padaong, Willy Mejia and Roland Pascual were from Angeles City; Billy Bansil from Lubao; Ariel Garcia was from Sta. Rita; Dave Bautista and Coach Aric's son Lester Del Rosario from Candaba; Roel Culala from Sasmuan; Norman Gonzales from Magalang; and Long David and Rolof Liangco from the historic town of Bacolor.

    They were later joined by two more players from the PBA: Bryan Punzalan, from Angeles City, and Lubao's pride Ato Agustin, the only second-round draft pick to ever win an MVP in the PBA who by then was being slowed down by a knee injury and getting little playing time at Mobiline.

    pampanga dragons mba champions

    CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓
    Watch Now

    pampanga dragons mba champions

    "'Yung contract ko sa Mobiline was bought out, kaya ako nakabalik sa Pampanga," says Agustin. "Pero kailangan ko rin mag-rehab muna dahil sa strain in my knee."

    Once his knee got better, Agustin, then 36, led from the front as the barnstorming Dragons lured big crowds at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center every single game and made new ones in away games around the country.

    ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

    The Dragons were playing well; they were also well taken care of. The team had a two-storey quarters inside the Mimosa Leisure Complex provided by the Gonzaleses, and generous supplies of shoes from Nike, which was then exclusively distributed in the country by Mondragon.

    "Wala ng kailangan isipin ang mga players. Maglalaro na lang talaga," says Cortez.

    READ: Story behind Coach Aric's chopper ride from MBA to UAAP games

    As successful as the team was in the regular season, Cortez says he knew the team needed more to go all the way. That led the decision to bring in four non-Kapampangan players in Udoy Belmonte, Ato Morano, veteran Andy De Guzman, and the pesky Nonoy Pido as well as Gherome Ejercito, a Manila-based guard whose mom was from Pampanga.

    That team and its run to the first MBA championship was no less special, etched in the minds of home fans who to this day hold those nineties-era Dragons close to their hearts, even after the emergence of generations of PBA stars from the province.

    ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

    The Dragons beat the Manila Metrostars in the Northern Conference finals - who can forget Coach Aric's dramatic chopper ride from Pampanga to Cubao to catch UST's Final Four game against La Salle - and the Negros Slashers in five games in the national finals.

    pampanga dragons mba champions

    ato agustin gherome ejercito, mba mythical five

    ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

    That championship turned out to be the last for the Dragons, who faded late in the 1999 season with a rejigged team led by Bong Alvarez (Agustin, by then, had returned to the PBA by way of Sta. Lucia) before Gonzales filed for a leave of absence from the league in 2000.

    Except for occasional reunions organized by Cortez before Coach Aric's death in 2020, most of the members of that team had drifted apart, especially with players like Punzalan, De Guzman and for a time Garcia based overseas.

    pampanga dragons reunion

    ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

    But the silver anniversary of that 89-85 win over the Slashers on October 31, 1998 - clinched by Agustin's two clutch free throws in the final seconds - is coming up and Cortez and other members of the team feel the occasion is too special not to be celebrated.

    "We'll hold one for sure," Cortez says.

    With or without a reunion, however, Agustin, as great a career as he had in the PBA, says the memory of that 1998 championship will forever be special for him.

    "Memorable sa akin 'yun," he says, "kasi nakagawa kami ng history para sa probinsya namin."

    Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

    Read Next
    Watch Now
    Sorry, no results found for
  • POLL

    • Quiz

      Quiz Result