Mindoro Tamaraws
{{short description|Professional basketball team in Mindoro island in the Philippines}}
{{About|the professional basketball team|the mammal endemic to Mindoro|tamaraw}}
{{use Philippine English|date=January 2023}}
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{infobox basketball club
| name = Mindoro Tamaraws
| current = 2025 Mindoro Tamaraws season
| logo = Mindoro Tamaraws logo.png
| league = MPBL
| founded = {{start date and age|2019}}
| history = Mindoro Tamaraws
2019–2021, 2024–present
Mindoro Tams
2022
{{nowrap|(Oriental) Mindoro Disiplinados}}
2023
| arena = Pola Gymnasium
| location = Mindoro
| colors = {{color box|#1C44A5}} {{color box|#F0B03F}} {{color box|#FFFFFF}}
| sponsor =
| coach = Rodney Santos
| titles =
| pattern l = |body l = |patterns l = |shorts l = |title l =
| pattern d = |body d= |patterns d = |shorts d = |title d =
}}
The Mindoro Tamaraws are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the province of Oriental Mindoro. The team primarily competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. The team splits its home games between the Sentrong Pangkabataan in Calapan and the Pola Gymnasium in Pola.
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. The Tamaraws are the lone team based in the Mimaropa region.
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 for the longest playoff drought overall, having missed the playoffs in the last four seasons as of 2024.
History
= Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League =
The 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{{cite news |title=Mindoro Tamaraws gain new backer in Mayor Jennifer Cruz |url=https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/mindoro-tamaraws-gain-new-backer-in-mayor-jennifer-cruz/183510 |access-date=9 December 2021 |work=Tiebreaker Times |date=17 April 2020}}{{cite news |title=MPBL: Ex-PBA player Mac Baracael to play for expansion club Mindoro |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/02/19/mpbl-ex-pba-player-mac-baracael-to-play-for-expansion-club-mindoro |access-date=9 December 2021 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=1 June 2019 |language=en}} 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 =
In 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".{{cite news |last1=Li |first1=Matthew |title=Mindoro Tamaraws tap Silva, Brodett as asst coaches |url=https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/mindoro-tamaraws-tap-silva-brodett-as-asst-coaches/207333 |access-date=9 December 2021 |work=Tiebreaker Times |date=4 May 2021}}
= Scheduled Pilipinas Super League participation =
In 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
When mayor Cruz joined the team's ownership, it was also reported that a new arena was under construction in Calapan.{{cite news |last1=Leongson |first1=Randolph |title=Mindoro Tamaraws get boost with new co-owner in mayor, actress Jennifer Cruz |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/mindoro-tamaraws-mpbl-a2437-20200417 |access-date=9 December 2021 |work=Sports Interactive Network Philippines |date=17 April 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Leongson |first1=Randolph |title=Former UE coach Silva, LSGH mentor Bienvenida join Mindoro Tamaraws staff |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/joe-silva-marvin-bienvenida-join-mindoro-tamaraws-staff-a2437-20200903 |access-date=9 December 2021 |work=Sports Interactive Network Philippines |date=3 September 2020 |language=en}} 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 before going back to Calapan in 2025.
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" |
| Venue
! Location ! 2019–20 ! 2022 ! 2023 ! 2024 ! 2025 |
|---|
| align=left | Sentrong Pangkabataan
| align=left | Calapan, Oriental Mindoro | bgcolor="FFCFCF" | {{n}} | bgcolor="FFCFCF" | {{n}} | bgcolor="CFFFCF" | {{y}} | bgcolor="FFCFCF" | {{n}} | bgcolor="CFFFCF" | {{y}} |
| align=left | Pola Gymnasium
| align=left | Pola, Oriental Mindoro | bgcolor="FFCFCF" | {{n}} | bgcolor="FFCFCF" | {{n}} | bgcolor="FFCFCF" | {{n}} | bgcolor="CFFFCF" | {{y}} | bgcolor="CFFFCF" | {{y}} |
Current roster
{{Mindoro Tamaraws roster}}
=Head coaches=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| colspan="6" style="{{MPBL color cell|Mindoro Tamaraws}}" | Mindoro Tamaraws head coaches | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| style="{{MPBL color cell2|Mindoro Tamaraws}}" | #
! style="{{MPBL color cell2|Mindoro Tamaraws}}" | Name ! style="{{MPBL color cell2|Mindoro Tamaraws}}" | Start ! style="{{MPBL color cell2|Mindoro Tamaraws}}" | End ! style="{{MPBL color cell2|Mindoro Tamaraws}}" class="unsortable" | Achievements ! style="{{MPBL color cell2|Mindoro Tamaraws}}" class="unsortable" | Ref. | |||
| align=center | 1 | Bengie Teodoro | 2019 | 2019
| align=center | — | |
| align=center | 2 | Justin Tan | 2019 | 2020
| align=center | — | |
| align=center | 3 | Britt Reroma | 2021 | 2021
| align=center | — | |
| align=center | 4 | Drake Santos | 2022 | 2022
| align=center | — | |
| align=center | 5 | Jonathan Reyes | 2022 | 2023
| align=center | — | |
| align=center | 6 | JR Cawaling | 2024 | 2024
| align=center | — | |
| align=center | 7 | Rodney Santos | 2025 | current
| align=center | — | |
Notable players
= MPBL All-Star Day =
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
{{col-end}}
= PBA players =
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
{{col-end}}
Season-by-season records
| class="wikitable"
|style="background:#FFFFCF; width:2em"| | League champions |
| style="background:#CFCFFF; width:2em"| | Division champions |
| style="background:#CFFFCF; width:2em"| | Qualified for playoffs |
| style="background:#FFCFCF; width:2em"| | Best regular season record |
| class=wikitable style="width:100%; text-align:center" | ||||||||
| rowspan=2 | Season | colspan=7 | Regular season | colspan=2 | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results |
| colspan=10 style="{{box-shadow border|a|#{{MPBL color|Mindoro Tamaraws|3}}|2px}}; background-color:#{{MPBL color|Mindoro Tamaraws|1}};"|Mindoro Tamaraws | ||||||||
| 2019–20 {{nowrap|Lakan Season}} | South | 12th | {{Sum|9|21}} | 9 | 21 | {{Winning percentage|9|21}} | 17 | colspan="2" | Did not qualify |
| colspan=10 style="{{box-shadow border|a|#{{MPBL color|Mindoro Tams|3}}|2px}}; background-color:#{{MPBL color|Mindoro Tams|1}};"|Mindoro Tams | ||||||||
| 2022 | South | 11th | {{Sum|1|20}} | 1 | 20 | {{Winning percentage|1|20}} | 17 | colspan="2" | Did not qualify |
| colspan=10 style="{{box-shadow border|a|#{{MPBL color|Mindoro Disiplinados|3}}|2px}}; background-color:#{{MPBL color|Mindoro Disiplinados|1}};"|Mindoro Disiplinados | ||||||||
| 2023 | South | 12th | {{Sum|6|22}} | 6 | 22 | {{Winning percentage|6|22}} | 17 | colspan="2" |Did not qualify |
| colspan=10 style="{{box-shadow border|a|#{{MPBL color|Mindoro Tamaraws|3}}|2px}}; background-color:#{{MPBL color|Mindoro Tamaraws|1}};"|Mindoro Tamaraws | ||||||||
| 2024 | South | 10th | {{Sum|10|18}} | 10 | 18 | {{Winning percentage|10|18}} | 11 | colspan="2" |Did not qualify |
| 2025 | TBA | colspan=6 | To be determined | colspan=2 | To be determined | |||||
| colspan=3 | All-time regular season record | {{Sum|26|81}} | 26 | 81 | {{Winning percentage|26|81}} | rowspan="3" | | colspan="2" | 0 playoff appearances | ||
| colspan=3 | All-time playoff record | {{Sum|0|0}} | 0 | 0 | {{Winning percentage|0|0}} | colspan=2 | 0 Finals appearances | |||
| colspan=3 | All-time overall record | {{Sum|26|81}} | 26 | 81 | {{Winning percentage|26|81}} | colspan="2" | 0 championships |
External links
- {{Facebook|Mindoro-Tamaraws-MPBL-61557321880367}}