The Mindoro Tamaraws are a Filipino professional basketball team based in Mindoro island. The team primarily competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. They are the lone team based in the Mimaropa region and play their home games at Pola Gymnasium in Pola, Oriental Mindoro.
| Mindoro Tamaraws | |
|---|---|
 2024 Mindoro Tamaraws season | |
 | |
| League | MPBL |
| Founded | 2019 |
| History | Mindoro Tamaraws 2019–2021, 2024–present Mindoro Tams 2022 (Oriental) Mindoro Disiplinados 2023 |
| Arena | Pola Gymnasium |
| Location | Mindoro |
| Team colors | |
| Head coach | JR Cawaling |
The team began play during the 2019–20 season. The franchise also competed in NBL–Pilipinas as the Mindoro Tamaraws Disiplinados (stylized as Disipl-Ina-dos) during the 2021 Chairman's Cup.
Currently, the Mindoro franchise is the oldest such in the MPBL that has yet to make a playoff appearance. They are also tied with the Biñan Tatak Gel and Parañaque Patriots for the longest playoff drought overall, having missed the playoffs in the last four seasons as of 2024.
History
editMaharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
editThe Mindoro Tamaraws joined the MPBL as an expansion team for the 2019–20 season, backed by 7A Sports and with Justin Tan as the team owner[1][2] In the Tamaraws' inaugural season, the team finished 12th in the South with a 9-21 record. In April 2020, actress and Pola mayor Jennifer "Ina Alegre" Cruz became co-owner of the team.
In the 2021 MPBL Invitational, Mindoro was able to make the playoff tournament by placing second in Group D. The team would go on to lose to the eventual Invitational champion Basilan Jumbo Plastic in the quarterfinals. Despite the great performance, in the 2022 season, the Tams finished with the worst record in the league, only getting one win in 21 games.
Heading into the 2023 season, the team was renamed the Oriental Mindoro Disiplinados; it would be changed partially to Mindoro Disiplinados in June 2023. On July 4, 2023, the Disiplinados played its first-ever home game in the Sentrong Pangkabataan. Later in the month, the team joined the Junior MPBL with the Mindoro Junior Disiplinados, the team was previously the junior team of the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo.
National Basketball League
editIn 2021, a second team dubbed as the Mindoro Tamaraws Disiplinados was formed for the NBL–Pilipinas which is meant to a more homegrown-oriented team as opposed to the MPBL team which is intended to be the "showcase team".[3]
Scheduled Pilipinas Super League participation
editIn October 2023, the Disiplinados were announced as one of the new teams for the Pilipinas Super League's 2023–24 President's Cup, where team would supposedly participate under the name RCP Pola Disiplinados–Shawarma Shack.
During the opening ceremonies, however, there was no mention of the Disiplinados. The team would move forward as the RCP–Shawarma Shack Demigods.
Home venues
editWhen mayor Cruz joined the team's ownership, it was also reported that a new arena was under construction in Calapan.[4][5] The arena became known as the Sentrong Pangkabataan and opened its doors in 2023. In 2024, the Mindoro franchise moved to the Pola Gymnasium in Pola.
| Venue | Location | 2019–20 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sentrong Pangkabataan | Calapan, Oriental Mindoro | 
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TBA |
| Pola Gymnasium | Pola, Oriental Mindoro |
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Current roster
edit| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated as of: June 13, 2024 |
Head coaches
edit| # | Name | Term | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bengie Teodoro | 2019 | |
| 2 | Justin Tan | 2019–21 | |
| 3 | Britt Reroma | 2021 | |
| 4 | Drake Santos | 2022 | |
| 5 | Jonathan Reyes | 2022–2023 | |
| 6 | JR Cawaling | 2024 |
Notable players
editMPBL All-Star Day
edit|
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PBA players
editSeason-by-season records
edit| League champions | |
| Division champions | |
| Qualified for playoffs | |
| Best regular season record |
| Season | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results | |
| Mindoro Tamaraws | |||||||||
| 2019–20 Lakan Season |
South | 12th | 30 | 9 | 21 | .300 | 17 | Did not qualify | |
| Mindoro Tams | |||||||||
| 2022 | South | 11th | 21 | 1 | 20 | .048 | 17 | Did not qualify | |
| Mindoro Disiplinados | |||||||||
| 2023 | South | 12th | 28 | 6 | 22 | .214 | 17 | Did not qualify | |
| Mindoro Tamaraws | |||||||||
| 2024 | South | 10th | 28 | 10 | 18 | .357 | 11 | Did not qualify | |
| All-time regular season record | 107 | 26 | 81 | .243 | 0 playoff appearances | ||||
| All-time playoff record | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 Finals appearances | ||||
| All-time overall record | 107 | 26 | 81 | .243 | 0 championships | ||||
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ "Mindoro Tamaraws gain new backer in Mayor Jennifer Cruz". Tiebreaker Times. April 17, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ "MPBL: Ex-PBA player Mac Baracael to play for expansion club Mindoro". ABS-CBN News. June 1, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ Li, Matthew (May 4, 2021). "Mindoro Tamaraws tap Silva, Brodett as asst coaches". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ Leongson, Randolph (April 17, 2020). "Mindoro Tamaraws get boost with new co-owner in mayor, actress Jennifer Cruz". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ Leongson, Randolph (September 3, 2020). "Former UE coach Silva, LSGH mentor Bienvenida join Mindoro Tamaraws staff". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved December 9, 2021.