2005-06  

Season in Review:
Prior to the start of the 2005-06 Fiesta Conference, Purefoods replaced their TJ Hotdogs moniker with the Chunkee Giants. The Chunkee Giants was a reference to the company's new chunky corned beef product Purefoods Chunkee Corned Beef. Purefoods selected PBL MVP Jondan Salvador with the fourth pick in the first round of the draft. To further strengthen its line-up, the team traded future draft picks to the Air21 Express to acquire Marc Pingris and Egay Billones. They also hired Marquin Chandler as import and went on to record a 10-6 first place finish in the classification phase, earning them an outright semis berth.

The Giants beat the up and coming Air21 Express in six games of the semi-finals. They lost in the finals of the tournament to Red Bull in six games. But their runner-up finish was the best since winning the 2002 Governor's Cup. Chandler won Best Import honors while Kerby Raymundo lost to Enrico Villanueva for Best Player of the Conference honors.

In the 2006 PBA Philippine Cup, the Chunkee Giants finished with a 12-4 record and a first-place finish in the classification phase, earning them an outright semi-finals berth for the second consecutive time. However, on May 14, in a game against Red Bull Barako, Eugene Tejada suffered a freak injury, which resulted to his paralyzation. In the semifinals, Purefoods won the series in seven games after trailing the Alaska Aces 1-3, becoming only the second team since the 1991 Ginebra San Miguel team to come back from a 1-3 deficit in a PBA best-of-seven series. In six games, the Chunkee Giants won the 2006 Philippine Cup, 4-2, over Red Bull. It was Purefoods' first title since the 2002 Governors Cup, and the first All-Filipino Cup title since 1997. Marc Pingris was named as the Finals Most Valuable Player.

James Yap became the second Purefoods player to win season MVP award and was included in the Mythical Team. Kerby Raymundo and Roger Yap were also named to the mythical team

2005-2006 PBA season

San Mig Coffee PBA Fiesta Conference

Crownless for three years, the title hunt begins for Purefoods Chunkee when they clashed with the Red Bull Barako in the lone opening game of the 2005-06 PBA season. From Hotdogs to Chunkee Giants, Purefoods hopes the change in name would bring a new lease of life to the franchise entering its first full season in the post-Alvin Patrimonio era. With the former four-time league MVP now fully retired, the mantle of stardom has been passed on to young guns Kerby Raymundo and sophomore James Yap, whom coach Ryan Gregorio considers as the team's newest 1-2 punch. The youthful mentor also added to the mix power forward Jondan Salvador, the former PBL MVP and this year’s No.4 overall pick who's expected to add size, heft, heart and talent to the Purefoods frontcourt. The team were also able to acquired Jean Marc Pingris from the FedEx Express and Roger Yap from the disbanded Shell team. The Giants emerged as the No.1 team in the double-round qualification phase with their 10-6 (win-loss) record which awarded them an outright passage into the semifinals. Purefoods Chunkee went through some agonizing moments during the Final Four as they wrapped up their semis series in six games opposite Air21 Express.

After eight straight conferences, Purefoods Chunkee is back in the Finals of the Philippine Basketball Association. Red Bull used its drive and will to come up with a fiery windup and beat the Purefoods Chunkee Giants for the San Mig Coffee PBA Fiesta Conference crown. The Barakos wrap up the best-of-seven series, 4-2, and win the title. The spotlight of the series was on Giants star center Kerby Raymundo and Red Bull skipper Enrico Villanueva, who have turned the series into a personal duel. Gregorio confessed to sports scribes that Raymundo was disappointed after losing to Villanueva for the Best Player of the Conference award. Raymundo was heavily favored to win, only to lose it against long-time rival Enrico Villanueva. Entering the Finals, the 6-foot-6 Purefoods slotman was ahead in statistical points over Air21's RenRen Ritualo, the third running Villanueva, Barangay Ginebra's Mark Caguioa and teammate James Yap. But banking heavily on the media votes, Villanueva turned the tide and pulled off a big upset in one of the league's closest voting ever. The Red Bull center, who gave Ateneo a championship during his high school and college days, amassed a total of 2,074 points as against Raymundo's 1,848. Although Raymundo beat out Villanueva in statistical points, 504-471, the biggest discrepancy came in the media votes – which included the block vote of the PBA Press Corps - where the Red Bull center garnered 1,123 out of the 1,440 possible points. Purefoods’ import, Marquin Chandler, won the Best Import award.

Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup

Purefoods join San Miguel Beer, Ginebra and Alaska as the only teams to win at least 500 games in the league’s 32-year history and also the fifth team to have played in at least 1,000 games in the league. Eugene Tejada, the team’s reserve power-forward, had a bad fall while going for a rebound with 5:43 left in their game against the Red Bull Barako during the second round of the classification phase. Down on the floor, his condition was further aggravated when the full force of Mick Pennisi’s body fell on top of him. Tejada laid on the floor for about 30 minutes, complaining of numbness from the waist down. He was later taken to the Makati Medical Center for further examination. Although short in manpower, the Giants still managed to find ways to win and close out their classification round campaign with a 12-4 (win-loss) record that propelled them on top of the leaderboard. The Giants wore blue patches on the right side of their jerseys bearing the No.33 of Tejada.

The Giants, who were given up for dead in the semifinals after losing three of the first four games of the best-of-seven series, weathered a belated rally by the Alaska Aces for a 90-89 decision in the deciding seventh game of their semifinal series to advance to the Finals of the Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup. The Giants did what everyone thought was unimaginable, winning Games 5, 6 and 7 to reach their second straight conference Finals. It marked the second time that Gregorio had beaten Cone in the playoffs after losing the first two games of the series. It was only the second time that a team came back from a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series in the PBA. The Giants also stretched their all-time league-most Final appearances in an all-Filipino tourney to 11.

Purefoods Chunkee’s miraculous recovery in the semifinals did not go for naught as the Giants came up with one big game in Game 6 to subdue the Red Bull Barakos, 90-83, and capture the Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup title. But the victory was most definitely the sweetest for veteran and 1993 No. 1 overall pick Jun Limpot, who went 13 years in the PBA without a title until the Giants’ title-clinching win. After Red Bull won Game 5 to keep their victory party on hold, the Giants took Eugene Tejada’s No. 33 off their jerseys and changed it with the letters “ET” because it meant End Tonight. Pingris emerged as the Finals’ MVP from the PBA Press Corps. Purefoods won their fourth All-Filipino title and seventh PBA title. Ryan Gregorio became the 15th PBA coach to at least won two PBA titles.

James Yap of Purefoods was named Most Valuable Player for the league’s 2005-06 season and was joined on the Mythical First Team by teammates Kerby Raymundo and Roger Yap together with Red Bull’s Enrico Villanueva and Lordy Tugade. Likely fueled by his loss in last year’s Rookie of the Year race to Shell’s Rich Alvarez, the 6-foot-1 ½ shooting guard out of UE was like a man on a mission this season, topping the statistical points, which led to more-than-enough media votes and the nod of the 4-man MVP committee to run away with the league’s most prized individual trophy, becoming only the second sophomore to win the award and only the second guard to do so in the last nine seasons after Willie Miller in 2002. James Yap won it in runaway fashion, accumulating a total of 7,863 equivalent votes, almost 5,000 more than Raymundo who had 2,960. Villanueva tallied 2,108. The MVP trophy was presented to him by PBA legend and special guest Sonny Jaworski, himself a former UE Warrior and league MVP in 1978. Curiously, James Yap and the rest of the members of the Mythical First Team members are first-timers on the either the Mythical First or Second Teams, something which has not happened in the league’s 31-year history since 1975. And no player who entered the league in the 1990s is part of the Mythical First Team for the first time. Marc Pingris was named to the Mythical Second Team. He was also named Most Improved Player and also formed part of the season’s All-Defensive Team. He was the Philippine Cup’s leading shotblocker and fifth-best rebounder.

Roster:
1ST CONF transition

JONDAN SALVADOR
EGAY BILLONES
MARC PINGRIS
KERBY RAYMUNDO
NOY CASTILLO
BROTHER EDDIE LAURE
MIKE HRABAK
JUN LIMPOT
ROGER YAP
ARTADI
YEE
YAP
SIMON
MARQUIN CHANDLER]


2005 < 2006 ALL FILIPINO
MARC PING PINGRIS
REY EVANGELISTA
EUGENE TEJADA
NOY CASTILLO
EGAY BILLONES
JUN LIMPOT
KERBY RAYMUNDO
ROGER YAP
YEE
YAP
ARTADI
ARNOLD GAMBOA

INJURED LIST
JONDAN BUDYONG SDLVADOR