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The Valenzuela Classic, also known as Valenzuela Classic VA Cargo for sponsorship reasons, is a Filipino professional basketball team based in Valenzuela. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. They are one of two teams based in Metro Manila's Northern District, the other team being the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo. The team plays their home games at WES Arena.
| Valenzuela Classic | |
|---|---|
 2024 Valenzuela Classic season | |
| League | MPBL |
| Founded | 2017 |
| History | Valenzuela Classic 2018–2019, 2024–present Valenzuela Idol Cheesedogs 2018 Valenzuela SPV TOP Marketplace 2019 Val City Carga Backload Solution 2019–2020 Valenzuela MJAS Zenith 2021 Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. 2022–2023 |
| Arena | WES Arena |
| Location | Valenzuela |
| Team colors | |
| Main sponsor | VA Cargo |
| Head coach | Aldrin Morante |
The team joined in 2018 as one of the league's charter teams and has gone under multiple names.[1] The team is currently owned by the local government of Valenzuela. The Valenzuela-based franchise also took part in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3.
History
editThe Valenzuela Classic were one of the MPBL's ten charter teams, one of six based in Metro Manila, and one of three Valenzuela finished as one of three teams with a 6-3 record, claiming the fourth seed in the playoffs. They beat the Quezon City Capitals in the Quarterfinals before losing to the first-seeded Batangas City Athletics.
In the 2018–19 season, the team went 10-15, failing to make the playoffs as they ranked 10th in the North Division. In the following season, the team ranked at 10th once again with a record of 11-19.
Valenzuela then participated in the 2021 Invitational and failed to make the playoffs, ranking third in Group C after finishing 2-2. In the 2022 season, the team began playing home games at the Bahayang Pag-asa Sports Complex. The team finished 10-11, one game short of a winning record. Despite the losing record, the team still made the playoffs as the sixth seed, but were swept by the San Juan Knights in the First Round.
Current roster
edit| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated as of: June 13, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coaches
edit| # | Name | Term | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gavina | 2018–2018–2019 | |
| 2 | Eric Samson | 2018 | |
| 3 | Juven Formacil | 2019 | |
| 4 | Gerry Esplana | 2019 | |
| 5 | Ronjay Enrile | 2019–2020 | |
| 6 | Aldrin Morante | 2022 | |
| 7 | Lester Alvarez | 2022 | |
| 8 | Jhon Velasquez | 2023 | |
| 9 | Eric Martinez | 2023 | |
| 10 | Aldrin Morante | 2024 |
Notable players
edit| Valenzuela Classic notable players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Tenure | Awards | All-Star |
| Paulo Hubalde | 2018–2020 | — | 2 (2019, 2020) | |
| Jaymar Gimpayan | 2018–2022 | — | 1 (2022) | |
Season-by-season records
edit| League champions | |
| Division champions | |
| Qualified for playoffs | |
| Best regular season record |
| Season | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | |||
| Valenzuela Classic | |||||||||
| 2018 Rajah Cup | None | 4th | 6 | 3 | .667 | Quarterfinals Semifinals | won vs. Quezon City, 2–1 lost vs. Batangas City, 0–2 | ||
| 2018–19 Datu Cup | North | 10th | 10 | 15 | .400 | Did not qualify | |||
| Val City Carga Backload Solution | |||||||||
| 2019–20 Lakan Season | North | 10th | 11 | 19 | .367 | Did not qualify | |||
| Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. | |||||||||
| 2022 | North | 6th | 10 | 11 | .476 | First Round | lost vs. San Juan, 0–2 | ||
| 2023 | North | 15th | 3 | 25 | .107 | Did not qualify | |||
| Valenzuela Classic | |||||||||
| 2024 | North | To be determined | |||||||
| All-time regular season record | 40 | 73 | .354 | 2 playoff appearances | |||||
| All-time playoff record | 2 | 5 | .286 | 0 Finals appearances | |||||
| All-time overall record | 42 | 78 | .333 | 0 championships | |||||
References
edit- ^ Leongson, Randolph (22 January 2018). "Maharlika basketball league tips off Thursday with 10 teams at Big Dome". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 23 January 2018.