2022 MPBL season


The 2022 MPBL season was the fourth season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League and the first as a professional league. The regular season began on April 25, 2022, with opening ceremonies at the Batangas City Sports Coliseum in Batangas City, Batangas, and ended on October 13. The 2022 MPBL All-Star Game was also held at the Batangas City Coliseum on October 2. The playoffs then began on October 15 and ended on December 12 when the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards defeated the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines in four games in the 2022 MPBL finals.
This season featured 22 teams, the first time the number of teams decreased from the previous season, as nine teams departed from the league.
This season also marked the first season of a partnership with sports betting platform OKBet as title sponsor of the league.

Background

This was the MPBL's first full season following the events of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, which caused the league's year-long suspension last season. Before the pandemic, the league was going to schedule a 2020–21 season for its fourth running beginning on June 12, 2020, but those plans were cancelled, and the fourth season was then moved to June 12, 2021. The June 2021 opening, however, didn't push through due to the prevailing restrictions, and the opening was postponed to the third quarter of 2021.
On November 9, 2021, the MPBL announced that the league would be given professional status, which was granted by the Games and Amusement Board one month later. League commissioner Kenneth Duremdes then announced that the season opener is once again postponed to 2022. To make up for the long gap, Duremdes also announced that an invitational tournament would be held in December 2021 to help teams prepare for the then-upcoming season.

Teams

Team changes

This season saw the departure of nine teams. The Basilan Steel and Davao Occidental Tigers moved to other leagues while the Bicol Volcanoes, Bulacan Kuyas, Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol, Navotas Uni-Pak Sardines, Iloilo United Royals, Parañaque Patriots, and Pasay Voyagers all became inactive. The Negros Muscovados took part in the 2021 Invitational, but did not return for the regular season. This brought the team lineup down to 22 teams, the first time the league has contracted in size. It was also the first time there were no expansion teams. To balance the divisions, the Rizal Golden Coolers were realigned back to the South Division.

Arenas

; Notes
  • Despite the presence of the Marikina Shoemasters, the arena was not used by the team during the season.

    Name changes

  • The Biñan City Luxxe White changed its name back to Laguna Heroes during the 2021 Invitational.
  • The Caloocan Supremos changed its team name to Caloocan Excellence during the 2021 Invitational.
  • The Bacolod Master Sardines changed its name to Bacolod Bingo Plus before the start of the season.
  • The Batangas City Athletics changed its name to Batangas City Embassy Chill before the start of the season.
  • The Imus Bandera - Luxxe Slim changed its name to Imus City Bandera before the start of the season.
  • The Makati Super Crunch changed its name to Makati × MNL Kingpin before the start of the season.
  • The Mindoro Tamaraws changed its name to Mindoro Tams before the start of the season.
  • The Valenzuela Classic changed its name to Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. before the start of the season.
  • The Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors changed its name to Pasig City before the start of the season, then later as Pasig City MCW Sports before the playoffs.

    Coaching changes

Roster regulation changes

Since the MPBL became a professional league, multiple changes were made to the roster regulations:
  • Teams are now allowed to sign up to five collegiate players into the roster. The only requirement is for the player to be given a Special Guest License from the Games and Amusement Board.
  • The ex-professional player limit was replaced by an ex-PBA player limit. Still, teams are only allowed to sign seven players with previous experience in the Philippine Basketball Association.
  • The classification for Filipino-foreigners was changed, with the only requirement is for the player to be a holder of a Philippine passport. The 6'4" height limit was also removed.
  • The maximum number of players per roster was increased from 20 to 24 to accommodate the bigger pool of players.

    Pre-season

The 2022 MPBL season was preceded by the 2021 MPBL Invitational which ran from December 11 to 23, 2021, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. The tournament was won by the Basilan Jumbo Plastic. Philip Manalang was awarded the Finals MVP after making a game-winning buzzer beater to lift Basilan over the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, 83–80.

Regular season

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on April 25, 2022, at the Batangas City Coliseum in Batangas City, Batangas, the home arena of the Batangas City Embassy Chill.

Format

The 22 teams played in a single round-robin format, playing one game against all other teams in the league for a total of 21 games. In each gameday, a series of games is played in a designated home arena, with the home team usually playing in the final game.
The top eight teams in each division advanced to a four-round, single-elimination playoffs, playing in best-of-three series in the first three rounds, and a best-of-five series in the national finals, with homecourt advantage alternating between the higher seeds of each series in the first two rounds.
The league also changed the ranking system this season, using wins instead of win percentage.

Standings

North Division

South Division

Results

Not all games are in home–away format. Each team plays every team once. Number of asterisks after each score denotes number of overtimes played.

Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its division, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. Teams with home-court advantage, the higher-seeded team, are shown in italics.

Bracket

First Round

In the First Round, the first- and second-seeded teams host games 1 and 3 of its respective division, while the third- and fourth-seeded teams host game 2.

North Division First Round

Due to Nueva Ecija, Pasig City, and San Juan all advancing after game 2, Pampanga instead hosted game 3.

South Division First Round

Division semifinals

In the division semifinals, the highest seeded team hosts games 1 and 3, while the second-highest seeded team hosts game 2.

North Division semifinals

South Division semifinals

Division finals

In the division finals, the higher-seeded team hosts games 1 and 3 in its respective division, while the lower-seeded team hosts game 2.

North Division finals

South Division finals

MPBL finals

In the MPBL finals, the higher-seeded team hosts games 1, 2, and 5, while the lower-seeded team hosts games 3 and 4.

All-Star Game

The 2022 MPBL All-Star Game was an exhibition game played on October 2, 2022. It was the third edition of the MPBL All-Star Game, which took place at the Batangas City Coliseum in Batangas City, Batangas, the home venue of the Batangas City Embassy Chill, making it the first All-Star Game to be held in a team's designated home venue.
For the third consecutive season, South Division won against the North Division with a score of 109–92. Jaycee Marcelino was declared the All-Star Game MVP.

Lineups

Due to the league's contraction to 22 teams, the league only placed thirteen players on each division's roster instead of fifteen. 15-man rosters would be used again in the following edition.
Cedric Ablaza of the Batangas City Embassy Chill and Mark Yee of Bacolod Bingo Plus earned their third all-star selections while Michael Mabulac of the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, Cris Masaglang of the GenSan Warriors, and Leo Najorda of the Imus City Bandera made their second all-star appearances.

Game

Pre-game events

Before the game itself, a series of pre-game events was held. Returning events include the Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk Contest. The Executives' Game also returns after the event's absence last season.
  • Executives' Game Champion: N/A
  • Three-point Shootout Champion: Domark Matillano
  • Slam Dunk Contest Champion: Garex Puerto

    Records and Milestones

Records

  • October 7, 2022 – The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards beat the Batangas City Embassy Chill to become the first team in league history to go undefeated in the regular season.
  • October 10, 2022 – Kyt Jimenez of the Sarangani Marlins completed a quadruple-double against the Mindoro Tams with 33 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, and 11 steals at Paco Arena in Manila, thus becoming the first player in league history to record such a statistic.

    Milestones

  • July 26, 2022:
  • * Michael Juico becomes the 5th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.
  • * Jay Collado becomes the 6th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.
  • August 2, 2022 - Mark Yee becomes the 1st ever player to reach 1,000 MPBL career rebounds.
  • * Mark Yee also becomes the 1st ever player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points and rebounds.
  • August 29, 2022 - Byron Villarias becomes the 7th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.
  • October 7, 2022 - Cedric Ablaza becomes the 8th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.
  • October 13, 2022 - Jeckster Apinan becomes the 9th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.
  • October 19, 2022 - Jason Melano becomes the 10th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.
  • October 28, 2022 - Levi Hernandez becomes the 11th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.
  • November 18, 2022 - Will McAloney becomes the 12th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.
  • December 2, 2022 - Michael Mabulac becomes the 13th player to reach 1,000 MPBL career points.