Sta. Lucia Realty

(also known as Sta. Lucia Realtors)



Team History:

Sta Lucia is known as the hardluck team of the PBA. In its 14 years in the league, they’ve been to the finals only twice, winning once, both import-flavored conferences. It was hardly the way the team envisioned it to be when they selected Jun Limpot number one overall in the 1993 PBA Draft. Limpot was a highly-profiled player in the amateur ranks and has won virtually every award there is in the PBL and the UAAP. Another gift would come in the form of Dennis Espino who was drafted first overall by the team in 1995. The Espino-Limpot tandem would last for 5 seasons after Limpot was traded for Marlou Aquino in 2000.

A series of bad decision, however brought the team down to the quagmire. Fil-Am Robert Parker who had a scintillating debut with the team was later found out to be a fake. In 2003, the Realtors would trade their first round pick for Kenneth Duremdes, in a move that would haunt the franchise in four years. Duremdes was a future Hall-of-Famer, but his gargantuan salary would prevent the team from getting additional quality players. Prior to the end of the 2006-07 season, the team would trade Duremdes to Coca Cola but it cost them promising guard Alex Cabagnot.

The highest point for the team came in the 2000-2001 seasons. The Realtors had extreme luck in getting
NBA veteran Ansu Sesay who steered the team to its first ever finals stint in 2001. Sesay would be adjudged as the conference’s Best Import but it would not be enough to topple eventual champion San Miguel Beer. In the 2001 Governor’s Cup, they made it back to the finals with returnee Damian Owens. Owens provided the spark as he almost single-handedly carried the Realtors past San Miguel Beer. The title was the Realtor’s first. Owens was named Best Import of the conference.

The drafting of Fil-am Kelly Williams marked the end of the team’s homegrown policy. Williams led all rookies in scoring, and rebounding en route to winning the yearend ROY honors. It is hoped that with Williams and Dennis Miranda, whom the team acquired for Alex Cabagnot last season, and Nelbert Omolon in tow, the team’s hardluck label would be a thing of the past.

Review of the 2006-07 Season:

Philippine Cup: There was something odd about the Realtors last season, they actually cared about winning. They grabbed Kelly Williams with the first pick overall in the draft when drafting Fil-ams was a taboo to them previously. It turned out to be best move they ever made in more than a decade. Williams was sensational in his maiden conference, playing like an import, leading all rookies in almost every category, and gave the hardluck Realtors something to be excited about. With Williams at the helm, they won 9 of its first 13 games in the Philippine Cup. But the roof caved in and the hardluck Realtors found themselves lurking in the wildcard series. They managed to defeat the resurgent Air21 Express to arrange a quarterfinals duel with Red Bull. The Barakos, though, proved to be a tough nut to crack and after three games, the Realtors were swept off the floor in the quarters.

Fiesta Cup: Rock Winston reinforced the team in the Fiesta Cup but his rock-solid plays weren’t enough to carry the Realtors to the promise land. He led the Realtors to a couple of wins in the team’s first six games but as the elimination phase started to heat up, the Realtors faded. Winston was eventually replaced by Jamaal Williams after 10 games with the team. Jamaal Williams turned in a very impressive performance (30.44 ppg, 10.78 rpg, and 1.78 spg in 9 games) but couldn’t get the Realtors into a winning track. They won only thrice in their next 13 games to bow out of the conference at 9th place. As a consolation of sorts, Kelly Williams was the runaway winner to the Rookie of the Year plum and made the national team in FIBA-Asia Olympic Qualifying meet.

Biggest Blunders:

When Alaska offered Kenneth Duremdes to the Realtors in a hastily made deal hours leading to the 2003 draft, Alfrancis Chua and Buddy Encarnado thought it was a deal they couldn’t pass. They should have. While acquiring Duremdes made the Realtors a very potent team, assembling what was probably the finest frontcourt troika in history, and a constant envy among various teams, it also limited their resources and pruned their available cap space. In the process, their bench corps assembled no better than a PBL lineup. Due to this inadequacy, they couldn’t sign up solid players who could have helped them bring firepower off the bench. Although they managed to win the 2004 third conference, it was more because of the awesome play of Best import Damian Owens and not the combined exploits of the Big Three. Before the season came to an end, Duremdes was traded to Coca Cola but at the expense of promising Fil-am guard Alex Cabagnot.