| Shell Turbo Chargers |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT SHELL TURBO CHARGERS | |
| defunct philippine basketball association teams | |
| sports clubs established in 1985 | |
| 2005 disestablishments | |
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Shell acquired the franchise of the famed Crispa Redmanizers in 1985 for a reported two million peso deal. In Shell's first season, the team was dubbed as the Bugbusters and acquired several remnants of the Crispa franchise in William "Bogs" Adornado, Philip Cezar and Bernie Fabiosa under head coach Freddie Webb. The teams' rise to fame came during the late-1980's when they were bannered by two University Of The Philippines standouts Ronnie Magsanoc and Benjie Paras to solidify Shell as one of the popular teams in the pro league. Paras is also the only PBA cager to ever win the Rookie of the Year and the coveted Most Valuable Player plum in the same season when the slotman won it all in 1989 . In the 1990 PBA Open Conference, Shell won its first-ever PBA championship defeating crowd-favorite Anejo Rhum 4-2. But the series was marred by Anejo's infamous walkout in the sixth and final game of the series to award the Shell the win in Game six and the series clincher. At that time, Shell was bannered by import Bobby Parks, who holds seven Best Import Award s in his PBA career, most of them with the Shell franchise. A year later, Shell suffered one of the biggest collapses in PBA finals history during the 1991 PBA First Conference, when they blew a 3-1 series lead in the series eventually losing to arch-rival Ginebra in seven games on a Rudy Distrito game-winner. Shell won the 1992 PBA Second Conference crown but waited six years before winning another PBA crown by capturing the 1998 Governors Cup, defeating the Mobiline Phone Pals in seven games. Their final championship was during the 1999 PBA All-Filipino Conference defeating heavy favorite Tanduay Rhum in six games. Shell was bannered by Paras, Gerry Esplana, Victor Pablo, Chris Jackson and Noy Castillo as one of their primary players under head coach Perry Ronquilio. 1999 also became a banner year for Paras, who won his second Most Valuable Player award in his career, despite the arrival of several talented Fil-Foreign cagers during the said campaign. However, injuries in the next three seasons forced the so-called "Tower of Power" to retire after the 2003 season. Shell suffered several slumps in the next four seasons ( 2000 - 2003 ) before resurfacing in during the 2004 - 2005 season as one of the contenders for the PBA crown. Under head coach Leo Austria (who won the Rookie of the Year honors in 1985 as a player for Shell), the Turbo Chargers placed fourth in the PBA Philippine Cup and third in the season-ending 2005 PBA Fiesta Conference. But with financial setbacks hampering their Parent Company in The Netherlands , the team was forced to file a leave of absence in August 2005 . Shell later dealt key players Tony Dela Cruz, Rich Alvarez and Ronald Tubid, among others, to Alaska and Air21, respectively, while most of the former players on the Shell roster were selected by several teams from the dispersal draft. Shell was given a six-month deadline for the team to either return to the league in the next PBA season or to sell the rights of the franchise to a prospective buyer. Welcoat Paints has formally acquired the rights of the Shell franchise and will enter the 2006 - 2007 PBA season as the league's 10th member. |
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