Jeffrey Joaquin Cariaso is a Filipino-American professional basketball coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He also played for various PBA teams, mostly with Alaska, for 15 seasons. He is known as "The Jet". He is also the basketball operations director of Slam Magazine Philippines.

Jeffrey Cariaso
Cariaso in 2014
Blackwater Bossing
PositionHead coach
LeaguePBA
Personal information
Born (1972-09-12) September 12, 1972 (age 52)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
NationalityFilipino / American
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
CollegeSonoma State (1991–1992)
PBA draft1995: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Selected by the Alaska Milkmen
Playing career1995–2010
PositionShooting guard
Number22
Coaching career2011–present
Career history
As player:
1995–1997Alaska Milkmen / Alaska Aces
1997–1999Mobiline Phone Pals
2000–2001Tanduay Rhum Masters
2002–2003Coca-Cola Tigers
2004–2010Alaska Aces
As coach:
2011–2014B-Meg Llamados / San Mig Super Coffee Mixers (assistant)
2014Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
2015–2019Alaska Aces (assistant)
2019–2022Alaska Aces
2022Converge FiberXers
2023–presentBlackwater Bossing
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As assistant coach

Playing career

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Alaska

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He was first drafted by the Alaska Aces (then known as the Alaska Milkmen) during the 1995 PBA draft as the sixth overall. During his rookie year, he won the Rookie of the Year Award. And in only his second year in the league, he achieved a rare Grand Slam with the Aces where he was instrumental in that majestic championship run, scoring the winning free throws in the All-Filipino Cup final against the Purefoods Hotdogs.[1]

Mobiline and Tanduay years

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Before the start of the 1997 PBA season, Cariaso was traded to the Mobiline Phone Pals (now known as the TNT Tropang Texters) where he was a primary offensive threat for the team. They won the special 1998 Centennial Cup.

After his tenure with Mobiline, he was again sent to the expansion team Tanduay Rhum Masters. He bannered the team alongside Sonny Alvarado, Eric Menk and Rudy Hatfield.

Reunion with Johnny Abarrientos

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After Tanduay folded in 2001, he was then picked by the Coca-Cola Tigers where he got reunited with Johnny Abarrientos. They won a couple of championships which include the 2002 All-Filipino Cup against his former team Alaska and the 2003 Reinforced Conference against San Miguel. He last tasted a championship with Talk 'N Text prior to this. He also received the most number of awards in his career during his tenure with the Tigers. Also, Coca-Cola was the only team that made it to the finals of all three conferences in 2003.

Return to Alaska and twilight years

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In the middle of the 2004–05 PBA season, he along with Reynel Hugnatan were traded back to the Alaska Aces in exchange for all-stars John Arigo and Ali Peek.

Cariaso was the last active player remaining on that Alaska Grand Slam team of 1996.

In the semifinals of the 2010 PBA fiesta conference, he announced his retirement after playing 15 seasons in the league. His number 22 was also retired by the Alaska Aces and the Coca-Cola Tigers.

Coaching career

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Barangay Ginebra

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On April 29, 2014, Cariaso was named as the new head coach of Barangay Ginebra, replacing Ato Agustin.[2] Prior to this, he has no high-level head coaching experience. In fact, he has little coaching experience apart from San Mig Coffee, joining the team in 2011, one year after retiring as a player, to assist his former coach at Alaska, Tim Cone. At San Mig, he emerged as the top assistant, often taking over the reins when Cone was ejected, or when the team was getting blown out and the American coach wanted to send a message to his players.[3] His tenure as coach of the Gin Kings did not produce much success, as the team failed to go beyond the quarterfinal rounds in the 2014 Governors' Cup and in the 2014–15 Philippine Cup. Moreover, the triangle offense system he uses did not sit well with the players. At the end of their Philippine Cup campaign, he was relieved of his coaching duties and was replaced by Ato Agustin. He still has one year and two conferences left in his contract, which was bought out, paving the way to his return to Alaska as assistant coach and camp director.

Converge FiberXers

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On August 9, 2022, after just one conference, Cariaso was released from his position.[4]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

[5]

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1995 Alaska 73 27.6 .484 .207 .803 3.9 1.5 .7 .1 11.4
1996 Alaska 69 29.6 .493 .125 .807 4.3 2.0 .5 .3 11.8
1997 Mobiline 39 38.6 .425 .208 .766 7.0 4.0 1.0 .1 18.7
1998 Mobiline 23 42.3 .449 .091 .729 6.8 5.1 .9 .4 18.2
1999 Mobiline 35 36.1 .398 .318 .789 5.2 3.8 .7 .3 13.2
2000 Tanduay 44 37.0 .383 .222 .771 5.2 4.5 .7 .2 14.6
2001 Tanduay 35 36.3 .427 .299 .812 5.1 3.1 .7 .2 18.4
2002 Coca-Cola 12 28.0 .422 .392 .679 3.3 3.3 1.0 .2 19.2
2003 Coca-Cola 65 33.0 .405 .232 .841 4.3 3.7 .8 .1 15.4
2004–05 Coca-Cola 71 34.0 .418 .377 .866 4.6 3.9 .7 .1 15.8
Alaska
2005–06 Alaska 49 34.7 .414 .288 .797 4.7 3.1 .6 .1 12.5
2006–07 Alaska 45 34.2 .445 .308 .866 4.6 3.0 .6 .0 13.1
2007–08 Alaska 45 29.6 .400 .349 .763 4.3 3.0 .6 .1 10.4
2008–09 Alaska 40 21.6 .399 .275 .774 2.9 2.1 .3 .0 7.1
2009–10 Alaska 41 10.8 .356 .111 .696 1.3 1.1 .1 .1 2.8
Career 686 31.3 .426 .296 .802 4.4 3.0 .6 .1 13.1

Personal life

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Cariaso is engaged to sports news reporter Erika Padilla, who was two months pregnant with her first child when he proposed. He was previously married to Michelle, with whom he shares 4 children. Jeffrey is a graduate of Mission High School in San Francisco, CA.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Purefoods vs Alaska Controversy:Foul of Bong Ravena on Jeff Cariaso-1996 AFC". YouTube.
  2. ^ "PBA: Jeffrey Cariaso named new Ginebra head coach – Slam PH".
  3. ^ "ANALYSIS | What Jeffrey Cariaso brings to Ginebra (And why another new coach won't solve all of their problems) | InterAksyon.com | Sports5". Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  4. ^ Li, Matthew (August 9, 2022). "SOURCES: Converge releases Jeff Cariaso as head coach". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  5. ^ "Jeffrey Cariaso Player Profile :: PBA-Online!". Archived from the original on November 16, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  6. ^ "Alumni History".