Purefoods Star Hotshots aim to set bar higher in PBA

MANILA, Philippines – After a grandslam season, San Mig Coffee will revert back to its original team name Purefoods as the franchise pressed its bid to continue the winning tradition in the PBA’s 40^th season.

The Mixers will now be called the Purefoods Star Hotshots.

“Bragging aside, we’re the hottest team in the PBA right now,” team governor Rene Pardo said during the team launch at the Mega Tent in Libis, Quezon City on Wednesday.

“We’ve changed the teams several times but most of the time, once we switched to a new name, we normally end up in the finals or win a championship,” Pardo added.

The team has the most number of name changes in the league now totaling to 11 since entering the league in 1988. They have now won 13 championships, including four straight since the 38th season under the banner of San Mig Coffee Mixers. 

They entered the league as Purefoods Hotdogs then became Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs beginning the 1991-92 season. They became the Coney Island Ice Cream Stars from 1993 to 1994 then took the names Pureoods Oodles (1993), Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys (1997) , Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies (1998), Purefoods Chunkee Giants (2005-07), Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants (2007-10). B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados (2011-12), B-Meg Llamados (2011-12), San Mig Coffee Mixers (2012-13), San Mig Super Coffee Mixers (2013-14). 

With its latest change of name, the SMC's current top PBA franchise is hoping to make Purefoods Star a household name and at the same time continue the team's winning tradition. 

"Purefoods Star is one of the strategic brands of the company in the processed meat market which is bannered by the Purefoods Star Hotdog," Pardo said.   

Purefoods is now just two straight championships away from tying Crispa’s record of six consecutive titles during the league’s first three years. A second grandslam will enable them to re-write history. 

Cone, however, dismissed the notion that they are going for that record but instead, focus on how to keep the team hungry after winning four straight championships.

“The things we talked as a team is that if we play the same standard, the other teams will catch up with us sooner or later. So we’re setting the bar higher that’s why we went to Korea and play against tough teams with two American imports,” Cone said.

“We were beaten by 20 points or more by top KBL (Korean Basketball League) teams but we’ve learned a lot from that experience. We’ve brought in an NBA coach (Tommy Newell) last week and that’s all part of the process of getting better,” Cone added.

Newell, a former assistant coach in Seattle Supersonics (now Oklahoma Thunder) and Dallas Mavericks, helped the team re-learn the basic fundamentals of the game to make them more efficient.

The Hotshots will open their Philippine Cup campaign on Wednesday against old nemesis Alaska Aces minus Marc Pingris, who was given a three-week rest after a grueling stint with Gilas Pilipinas.