Red Bull Barakos

(also known as Red Bull Energy Kings, Red Bull Barakos)



Team History:

The Red Bull franchise entered the league in 2000 and immediately stamped their class as among the league’s best teams. They were bannered then by Fil-Am Davonn Harp, and locally bred stars Willie Miller, Kerby Raymundo, and Lordy Tugade. One by one however, these stars were gone. Harp was declared ineligible to play in the PBA because of his failure to comply with league requirements. Miller, Raymundo and Tugade would be traded to different teams just when they’re starting to carve their respective niches in the pros. Coach Yeng Guiao is the architect to the team’s success. He has successfully integrated character into the team and made things happen, especially during those times when the team had lost its stars, either thru suspensions or trades.

The Barakos are also home to among several best imports that have graced the PBA hardcourt. Ray Tutt was a profilic, high-scoring import who once scored 56 points in his first game with the Barakos. He gave the team its first trophy – a third place finish in the 2001 Governor’s Cup. It was former Duke star Antonio Lang, however, who got the Barakos to the finals in 2001. His masterful showing carried the Barakos to a 2001 Commissioner’s Cup title over San Miguel Beer, the first championship for the team. Lang was back with the Barakos the next season, this time in tandem with Julius Nwosu and looked to bag another second title until allegations of game fixing shoved Lang out of the team. NBA veteran Sean Lampley replaced him in game 5 as Red Bull overcame a 2-3 series deficit to collar the crown. Two other imports who have made meaningful impact to the league was Victor Thomas who won the Best Import honors in the 2004 Transition conference, and James Penny who guided the team to a title in the 2005-06 Fiesta Cup.

Their first big break came when six teams passed up on 2002 UAAP MVP Enrico Villanueva in the 2003 PBA Draft. Villanueva became the team’s newest foundation for the future, an accolade which he would fulfill with a Most Improved Award in 2004-05 season a Best Player of the Conference award in the 2005-06 Fiesta Cup, and a spot on the 2005-06 Mythical Team selection. Former Ateneo teammates Larry Fonacier and Paolo Bugia would later join Enrico in the Red Bull lineup to form an awesome Ateneo connection. Just when the Barakos would start to make some headway, the team would trade away Lordy Tugade to San Miguel, and Enrico Villanueva a conference later, also to the same team that generated a howl of protest from the other teams, contending the trade violated league protocol, notably the Restricted Trading List policy. Despite the absence of some of its stars, Red Bull has managed to stay competitive and consistently remain one of the league’s best teams.

Review of the 2006-07 Season:

Philippine Cup: The Barakos lost leader and leading scorer Lordy Tugade to San Miguel beginning the season but his absence was hardly felt as the deadly trio of Junthy Valenzuela, Cyrus Baguio and Larry Fonacier more than compensated for his loss. The team coasted to an 11-7 mark in the classification phase to book itself of a place in the quarters. They swept the Realtors in three games in their quarterfinals matchup to gain a ticket to the semis. Against the formidable San Miguel Beer, the Barakos managed to keep up a step before succumbing 3-4. Coach Yeng Guiao was ejected in game 5 for throwing an elbow on San Miguel shooter Dondon Hontiveros. The Barakos lost the battle for third against the Phonepals to wind up 4th in the Philippine Cup.

Fiesta Cup: Old hand James Penny came back to reinforce the Barakos anew and help them defend the conference they won the previous season. Already without Mick Pennisi who was earlier named to the national team pool, the Barakos also lost key big man Enrico Villanueva in a big trade with San Miguel that shocked a lot of Barako hopefuls. His replacement on the team was journeyman Don Camaso who tried to fill his void, to no avail. Despite being severely undermanned, the Barakos fought like a wounded tiger and clipped foes after foes in the elimination phase, winning 13 games out of 18 to earn itself of an automatic semis berth. After a month-long layoff, the Barakos meet a roadblock in Talk N Text in the semis. The out-of-sync Red Bull struggled in the series, and when leader Junthy Valenzuela went down with a season-ending injury, the fight was lost for the Barakos. They still managed to salvage 3rd place over San Miguel but everyone knew it was a huge disappointment for Yeng Guiao’s troops.

Biggest Blunders

Red Bull does not commit too many mistakes often. They always had an eye for talent in the free agent pool (read Carlo Sharma) and the draft (read Larry Fonacier). I’m terribly disturbed though in the manner in which they just let go some of their talented personnel for virtually nothing. In 2002, they traded away youngster Kerby Raymundo to Purefoods for future draft picks (outcome: Cyrus Baguio), Willie Miller to Talk N Text for draft picks too (outcome: Denver Lopez), Lordy Tugade, Enrico Villanueva, and Larry Fonacier to San Miguel Beer for virtually scrubs. The Barakos, though are not afraid to deal away their superstars if their attitude does not jive with the team’s philosophy. They always think that superstars are not born but developed and they believe they have the perfect system to turn garbage into potential gold. So far, they’ve stayed competitive and seemed to have made the right choice thus far.