2011–12 PBA season


The 2011–12 PBA season was the 37th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. The season was formally opened on October 2, 2011 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, and finished on August 5, 2012. The season used three-conference format, starting with the Philippine Cup, or the traditional All-Filipino Conference. The mid season Commissioner's Cup featured unlimited height limit for imports. The Governors' Cup became the third and final conference for this season.
The first activity of the season was the 2011 PBA Draft held on August 28, 2011, at the Robinsons Place Manila in Ermita, Manila.

Board of governors

Executive committee

  • Chito Salud
  • Mamerto Mondragon
  • Jose Bayani Baylon
  • Robert Non

Pre-season events

Player movement

Key transactions:
Trades:

Notable occurrences

  • The PBA board approved the sale of the Barako Bull Energy Boosters team franchise from Photokina Marketing to the Linaheim Corporate Services, owners of the Air21 Express. The team will now be known as the Shopinas.com Clickers.
  • The Air21 Express will be renamed as Barako Bull Energy starting this season. The name change occurred after the Lina Group bought 49 percent stake of Energy Food and Drinks Inc., a subsidiary of Photokina Marketing and the exclusive distributor of Red Bull Energy Drink products in the Philippines. The "Energy Boosters" moniker will be dropped and instead the team will be known as "Energy", since there will be a conflict in using the "Boosters" moniker with the Petron Blaze Boosters.
  • The PBA board approved the 20% salary cap increase and the standardization of game bonuses on September 8. The player salary cap was increased from P350,000 to P420,000. The proposals were approved at the heels of an outburst by Alaska Aces owner Fred Uytengsu during the press conference announcing Tim Cone's resignation as head coach of Alaska. Uytengsu commented that the league is not a level playing field, with some teams paying their players more than the monthly amount set by the PBA.

Coaching changes

Opening ceremonies

The season began on October 2 with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters defeating the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 94–93.
The muses for the participating teams are as follows:
TeamMuse
Alaska AcesBubbles Paraiso
B-Meg LlamadosRhian Ramos
Barako Bull EnergyHelga Krapf
Barangay Ginebra KingsSolenn Heussaff
Meralco BoltsDiane Necio and Isabella Manjon
Petron Blaze BoostersHelen Nicolette Henson, Martha Chloe McCully and Samantha Neville
Powerade TigersMaricar Reyes
Rain or Shine Elasto PaintersMichelle Gavagan
Shopinas.com ClickersIya Villania
Talk 'N Text Tropang TextersVenus Raj and Nora Aunor

2012 Blue vs. Green Dream Game

Rosters

Blue

Coach: Norman Black

Green

Coach: Franz Pumaren

2012 Commissioner's Cup

After the PBA Philippine Cup finals, the PBA is slated to return in the PBA Commissioner's Cup. This conference features imports for each team, with an unlimited height ceiling.

Notable events

Player movement

Key transactions:
Trades:

Coaching changes

2012 Governors' Cup

Notable events

  • The Barangay Ginebra Kings announced the retirement of Robert Jaworski's #7 jersey. The ceremony was held on July 8 before the start of the semifinals game between Barangay Ginebra and Petron Blaze.
  • In commemoration of the jersey retirement of Robert Jaworski, the Barangay Ginebra Kings wore their throwback 1985 Ginebra San Miguel white jerseys, on their semifinal game against Petron Blaze.
  • PBA referee Peter Balao was suspended until the end of the season after a miss call of a three-second violation during the knockout game between the Barako Bull Energy and the Powerade Tigers.
  • Following the loss of Barako Bull Energy against the Powerade Tigers in their knockout game, Don Allado of Barako Bull posted on his Twitter account his frustrations and mentioned that the PBA games are fixed. The Twitter posts were later deleted by Allado within a day and issued an apology to the league and the PBA officials. PBA Commissioner Chito Salud called Allado to his office to explain his accusations. Allado was later fined Php 500,000; Php 300,000 will go the PBA players educational trust fund and Php 200,000 to a charitable institution of his choice. Allado is also banned for one conference from all PBA related activities. The fine became the largest penalty for a player since Wynne Arboleda's fine after a violent altercation with a fan during their game against Smart Gilas in 2009.

Player movement

Key transactions:
Trades:

Coaching changes

Individual awards

Leo Awards

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

Scoring Champion: Gary David Coach of the Year: Yeng Guiao Mr. Quality Minutes: Larry Fonacier Comeback Player of the Year: Mark Caguioa Executive of the Year: Raymund Yu and Terry Que Defensive Player of the Year: Jireh Ibañes