1997 Mobiline Phone Pals season

The 1997 Mobiline Cellulars season was the eighth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team change its moniker from Cellulars to Mobiline Phone Pals beginning the Governor's Cup.

1997 Mobiline Cellulars season
Head coach	Norman Black Tommy Manotoc
Owner(s)	Pilipino Telephone Corporation
All-Filipino Cup results
Record	9–13 (40.9%)
Place	5th
Playoff finish	Semifinals
Commissioner's Cup results
Record	4–6 (40%)
Place	6th
Playoff finish	N/A
Governors' Cup results
Record	7–8 (46.7%)
Place	5th
Playoff finish	Quarterfinals (lost to Purefoods in one game)
Mobiline Cellulars seasons

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	College
1	1	Andrew John Seigle	University of New Orleans
2	9	Antonio Espinosa, Jr	La Salle

Notable date

February 23: Rookie Patrick Fran saved the day for the Cellulars in the 84–78 victory over Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys which clawed back from a 20-point deficit to come close to within three with still 71 seconds remaining. Mobiline scored their first win of the season after losing to defending champion Alaska Milkmen on opening day a week ago.

Occurrences

Former San Miguel coach Norman Black became the new head coach of Mobiline Cellulars, replacing Yeng Guiao at the start of the season. Coach Black steered the team to a semifinal stint in the All-Filipino Cup after two years of being a doormat. After the Cellulars got eliminated in the Commissioner's Cup, Mobiline top honcho Choy Cojuangco and RFM chairman Joey Concepcion agreed on a player-coach trade during the first week of August. Norman Black coached his third team in 13 years with Pop Cola while Bottlers' team consultant Derrick Pumaren moved to the Cellulars.

Mobiline also acquired Ato Agustin from Pop Cola in exchange for Elpidio Villamin and Peter Martin. Starting the Governor's Cup, former Grandslam coach Tommy Manotoc has taken Norman Black's place at the Mobiline bench with Derrick Pumaren as his co-mentor.

Roster

Mobiline Phone Pals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 3 Espinosa, Tonyboy 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) De La Salle G 5 Pumaren, Franz 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) De La Salle G 6 Agustin, Ato 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Lyceum F/C 7 del Rosario, Richard 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) De La Salle G 8 Solis, Al 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Visayas F 10 Teng, Alvin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Arellano G/F 12 Capacio, Glenn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Far Eastern F 14 Reyes, Eric 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Ateneo G/F 16 Briones, Lowell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Visayas G 17 Fran, Patrick 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) UST F 19 Santamaria, Joey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) De La Salle F 22 Cariaso, Jeffrey 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sonoma State C 52 Seigle, Andy 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) New Orleans	Head coach Norman Black (All-Filipino/Commissioner's Cup) Derrick Pumaren (Governors Cup) Tommy Manotoc (Governors Cup) Assistant coach(es) Leo Isaac Derrick Pumaren Bogs Adornado Legend (C) Team captain (IN) Inactive Injured

Transactions

Additions

Name	Deal Information	Former team
Lowell Briones	Pick by Purefoods in the Rookie draft and dealt to the Cellulars the following day	N/A
Patrick Fran	Rookie Free Agent	N/A
Franz Pumaren	Acquired from San Miguel	San Miguel Beermen
Eric Reyes	Acquired from Sunkist late last year in a trade with Eugene Quilban	Sunkist
Alvin Teng	Acquired from Sunkist late last year in a trade with Jack Tanuan

Trades

Off-season	To Purefoods Cadel Mosqueda	To Mobiline Glenn Capacio
Off-season	To Alaska Dwight Lago	To Mobiline Jeffrey Cariaso

Subtractions

Player Signed New team Yoyoy Villamin September 1997 Pop Cola Peter Martin September 1997 Pop Cola Recruited imports Tournament Name Number Position University/College Duration Commissioner's Cup Isaiah Morris 35 Forward University of Arkansas June 15 to July 22 Governors' Cup Artemus McClary 25 Guard/forward Jacksonville University September 23 to November 18 References