2010–11 PBA season


The 2010–11 PBA season was the 36th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. It started on October 3, 2010 and ended on August 21, 2011. The season marked the return of the original three-conference format, starting with the Philippine Cup, or the traditional All-Filipino Conference. The import-laden Commissioner's Cup returned as the second tournament, while the Governors' Cup also returned, serving as the third conference which also served as an import-laden tournament.
The first activity of the season is the 2010 PBA Draft held on August 29 at the Market! Market! in Taguig.

Pre-season events

Player movement

Key transactions:

Trades:
Signing:

Rule changes

The PBA board approved the rule changes for implementation starting this season:
Rule changes

  1. 2-point or 3-point verification to be enforced for the entire game. During the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime period, verification will be made during the next deadball situation.
  2. During the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime period, contested out of bounds calls will be subject to video review.
  3. There will be no resetting of the shot clock after a jumpball if the tap goes to the offensive team.
  4. A player who cannot shoot free throws awarded to him because of injury and is replaced can no longer return to the game. The substitute will shoot the free throws, regardless of the type of foul called. The same rule applies on jumper in jumpball situations.
  5. No need to cross midcourt line for a player to call a 30-second timeout. During the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime period, all timeouts will have the option to inbound from the free throw line extended.
  6. In all overtime periods, a team enters penalty situation only after the second team foul. No more carryover of team fouls from the fourth quarter.
  7. No more primary or secondary defender distinction. No more Lower Defensive Box.
  8. No more flopping violation.
  9. No more "leaving the playing court to gain advantage" violation.
  10. A team shall be allowed to field in its 14-man line up during a game.

Notable occurrences

Opening ceremonies

The season began on October 3 with the Meralco Bolts defeating the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 73-72.
The muses for the participating teams are as follows:
TeamMuse
Air21 ExpressDaiana Menezes
Alaska AcesNancy Castiglione
B-Meg LlamadosCarla Abellana
Barako Bull Energy BoostersBianca Bauer
Barangay Ginebra KingsAnne Curtis
Meralco Bolts14 Meralco employees
Powerade TigersVice Ganda
Rain or Shine Elasto PaintersColeen Garcia
San Miguel BeermenGeorgina Wilson, Isabelle Daza and Sam Pinto
Talk 'N Text Tropang TextersJennylyn Mercado

2010–11 Philippine Cup

Player movement

Key transactions:

Trades:

Notable events

2011 Commissioner's Cup

Notable events

  • The conditional dispersal draft of the Barako Bull players was held in the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City on February 7. Out of the 14 players, only Lordy Tugade and Escobal were drafted by San Miguel and B-Meg Derby Ace respectively.
  • The Board of Governors approved Solar Entertainment's proposal to change its broadcast television partner from RPN to ABS-CBN's Studio 23 for the remainder of its contract with the league, beginning with the 2011 Commissioner's Cup.
  • The PBA D-League will start on March 12 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan. The league will be composed of 14 teams, with three teams having affiliation with existing PBA teams. Four teams that supposed to be part of the revival of the dormant Philippine Basketball League filed for application in the PBA D-League, hours after the PBL held its press conference regarding its revival.
  • The sale of the Barako Bull Energy Boosters' franchise to Phoenix Petroleum did not push through after they failed to get the required number of votes from the PBA Board of Governors. Due to this development, Barako Bull's leave of absence was extended up to the end of the Governors' Cup.

Player movement

Key transactions:

Trades:
Signing:
  • Meralco signs Marlou Aquino and will assume his Barako Bull contract until the end of the Commissioner's Cup.
  • Smart Gilas has listed Borgie Hermida in their line-up for the Commissioner's Cup and will return to Barako Bull after the tournament. However, Barako Bull announced that they will not play for the remainder of the season. Eventually, Hermida was released from Gilas.
  • San Miguel Beermen has added Paolo Hubalde to their roster for the Commissioner's Cup and will return to Barako Bull after the tournament. However, Barako Bull announced that they will not play for the remainder of the season.

Coaching changes

2011 PBA All-Star Weekend

The 2011 PBA All-Star Weekend were held from May 20 to 22 at the Boracay Convention Center, Malay, Aklan. The winners were:

Rookie-Sophomore Blitz Game

Blitz Game MVP: Robert Labagala and Sean Anthony

All-Star Game

All-Star Game MVP: Marc Pingris

2011 Governors' Cup

Player movement

Key transactions:

Trades:

Notable occurrences

  • San Miguel Corporation announced that they will rename the San Miguel Beermen as the Petron Blaze Boosters.
  • B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados shorten their name into B-Meg Llamados.
  • Two elimination round games were held at the Al Shabab Al Arabi Sports Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from June 30 to July 1 featuring B-Meg, Talk 'N Text and Barangay Ginebra. B-Meg won against Talk 'N Text, 111-105, then Talk 'N Text beat Barangay Ginebra the next day, 123-113.
  • Players of the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters got stranded in Dubai after their two-game stint. The travel agency in charge reportedly cancelled their plane tickets to Manila after the non-payment of the organizers.
  • PBA announced that TV5 will become the provide their TV coverage for the next five years. This was made by Commissioner Chito Salud on July 8, 2011 during the PBA Board of Governors meeting. TV5 guaranteed the league P700 million in cash, P150 million for marketing and promotions, and P115 million worth of ad spots up to 2016. TV5 will also be handling the radio coverage of the PBA as well.
  • Barako Bull has sold their franchise to Linaheim Corp. following approval of the sale by the PBA Board of Governors on July 8, 2011, thus making the PBA to have 10 teams next season.

Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend

The Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend was held from July 23–24 at the newly renamed Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The all star weekend featured the Smart All-Stars, with Kobe Bryant as its playing coach challenging the PBA All-Stars, with Chot Reyes as the head coach and the Smart Gilas Philippine national basketball team. The event was organized by Smart Communications and the MVP Sports Foundation, headed by Manuel V. Pangilinan, team owner of the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters and the Meralco Bolts in the PBA.

Rosters

Note: Due to the then ongoing NBA lockout, the Smart All-Stars cannot affiliate themselves with the NBA or their teams. The list below indicates the NBA teams where the player is associated before the lockout began.
Smart All-Stars:
PBA All-Stars:

Individual awards

Most Valuable Player race

This how the MVP award was determined:
PlayerStatisticsMediaPlayersTV coverorCommissioner's
Office		Total
Jimmy Alapag3351,030173300501,888
Arwind Santos4086462331003001,687
Mark Caguioa364162416001501,317

List

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

Defensive Player of the Year: Arwind Santos Coach of the Year: Chot Reyes Mr. Quality Minutes: Jayson Castro Comeback Player of the Year: Danny Ildefonso Executive of the Year: Manny Pangilinan Referee of the Year: Jimmy MarianoOrder of Merit: Mark Caguioa