page_title: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
section_title: 2009–10
hierarchical_section_title: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel / Barangay Ginebra Kings and the "Fast and the Furious" era (1999-2017) / 2009–10
caption_attribution_description: English: Alaska's Willie Miller being defended by Air21's Gary David
context_page_description: The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. It is the most popular PBA team and has twelve PBA titles. The team is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc., a subsidiary of the San Miguel Corporation. The team is one of three PBA ball clubs currently owned by the SMC group of companies, along with the Magnolia Hotshots and the San Miguel Beermen.
  La Tondeña, Inc. joined the PBA in 1979 as an expansion team. After some rough times during their first few seasons, their fortunes changed when veterans Robert Jaworski and Francis Arnaiz arrived in 1984, following the disbandment of the famed Toyota Tamaraws. With new players like Jaworski being veterans of the game from ages 30–35, Jaworski would also be given the role as head coach of the young Ginebra team. As player-coach, Jaworski steered the franchise to four PBA titles between 1986 and 1997. After the retirement of Coach Jaworski at the age of 52, Jong Uichico, Siot Tanquingcen and Tim Cone would be coaching the players led by the legendary "Fast and The Furious", MVPs Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa.
context_section_description: In preparation for the 35th season, Ginebra was included in a three-way trade with Burger King and Purefoods. They sent Paul Artadi, Rafi Reavis, and 8th draft pick Chris Timberlake to Purefoods for Enrico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez, Paolo Bugia, and Celino Cruz. They also traded their eighteenth draft pick Orlando Daroya to Burger King for Pocholo Villanueva, but Villanueva never made it to the team. Meanwhile, they released guard Macky Escalona, and forward J. R. Aquino to free-agency and waived center Homer Se. They also released guard Chris Pacana, who was later signed by the Sta. Lucia Realtors and placed forward Junjun Cabatu to the practice player list. On other reports, Ginebra coach Jong Uichico confirmed that they signed Eric Menk to a one-year contract extension for the Kings. Ginebra then released guard Chico Lanete and was later signed by the Burger King Whoppers. Prior to this release, they signed Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 18th overall pick Kevin White to a one-year deal.
  In the Fiesta Conference, Rudy Hatfield came back to the country and signed a one-year contract with Ginebra. During the mid-conference, Ginebra acquired Yancy de Ocampo and a 2010 second-round draft pick from the Burger King Whoppers in exchange for Rich Alvarez and Doug Kramer and acquired the former Metropolitan Basketball Association MVP, John Ferriols, who officially became an unrestricted free agent after being on the reserved list by the Alaska Aces. Due to lack of impressive point guards in their line-up, they traded high-flying Cyrus Baguio to the Alaska Aces and got the two-time MVP Willie Miller. Ginebra also traded Billy Mamaril to Air21 Express for Mike Cortez in the latter part of the conference.
  The Kings' first import was Awvee Storey but he was then replaced by Mildon Ambres because of his inconsistencies. Ambres' performance was also not far from Storey's output; the team again made an import change. Denham Brown, a Seattle SuperSonics draftee, and a standout from the NBDL squad Iowa Energy, also struggled in five games when he played for the team during the last round of the eliminations.
  Ginebra looked for winning combinations with the new players in their lineup. But, they still failed to secure a playoff berth for the semifinals. Being tied with the Elasto Painters, they played for one-game playoff for the last quarterfinals berth. The result was, the Kings defeated Rain or Shine, 115–88, in the lopsided win. Barangay Ginebra then renewed its historic battle with fourth-seeded Alaska Aces in the quarterfinals. This was a rematch between the two teams that tangled in the semifinals of the 2009 Philippine Cup. Alaska took a 2–0 lead. Diamon Simpson powered his way to a 20–20 game in the first game and Barangay Ginebra as the Aces topped the Kings, 76–72, in the opener of this quarterfinals. In game 2 Alaska showed poise at crunch time. The Aces came up with big plays down the stretch while the Kings could not, enabling the Aces to escape with an 84–82 win. Simpson capped a 30-point game with his 17th rebound that sealed the game just before the final buzzer. Eric Menk and import Chris Daniels provided scoring but their backcourt were again invisible, with Mark Caguioa, Willie Miller, Mike Cortez, and Jayjay Helterbrand struggling in the game. In game 3 Ginebra came with a breakthrough win that fanned the hopes of the team. Not one but several Kings heeded the call and resulted in a 91–87 win over the Alaska Aces that kept the Kings' hope for the quarterfinals series. J.C. Intal, who came off the bench exploded for 20 points, delivering what Mark Caguioa and Wille Mller could not while providing both inspiration and boost to the team's cause of eluding Alaska's broom. The Kings forced a rubber match when they got balanced scoring from their roster with a 94–90 win over Alaska in Game 4. J.C. Intal and Ronald Tubid hit consecutive three-pointers in the final three minutes while Sunday Salvacion came through with the game-sealing free throws with 2.6 seconds left in Game 4. Ginebra failed to win the quarterfinal series wi
caption: Willie Miller was traded to Ginebra in exchange of Cyrus Baguio.
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