The 2004 PBA Fiesta Conference, or known as the 2004 Gran Matador Brandy-PBA Fiesta Conference for sponsorship reasons, was tournament held by the Philippine Basketball Association and the first ever edition of the PBA Fiesta Conference.

Prior to the formation of the said conference, the league had two import-laced conferences known as the PBA Commissioner's Cup (with an import height-limit of 6–8), and the PBA Governor's Cup (with an import height-limit of 6–4). However, in 2003, the two conferences were scrapped and was replaced with an Invitational tournament, with an All-Filipino local squad along with foreign teams) and an import-laced Reinforced Conference.

But, in 2004, the league changed its calendar from a calendar year to a fiscal year. As a preparation for the new format, the tournament was institutionalized in 2004 as a transitional tournament. The first Fiesta Conference was played from February–July 2004.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

TeamMuse
Alaska AcesIya Villania
Barangay Ginebra KingsBelinda Bright and Maricar de Mesa
Coca-Cola TigersIza Calzado
FedEx ExpressKatarina Perez
Purefoods TJ HotdogsJennylyn Mercado
Red Bull Barako
San Miguel BeermenJenny Manuel
Shell Turbo ChargersMichelle Estevez
Sta. Lucia Realtors
Talk 'N Text Phone PalsNancy Castiglione

2004 PBA All-Star game

The league held its All-Star Weekend on August 15, 2004, at the jampacked New Cebu City Coliseum, with the revived North vs South All-Stars format. The South All-Stars defeated the Northern selection, 130–128, in a closely fought contest. Asi Taulava and Jimmy Alapag were named co-MVP of the All-Star game.

Classification round

PosTeamWLPCTGBQualification
1San Miguel Beermen162.889Advance to quarterfinal round
2Alaska Aces117.6115
3Coca-Cola Tigers117.6115Advance to wildcard phase
4Talk 'N Text Phone Pals117.6115
5Red Bull Barako108.5566
6Sta. Lucia Realtors810.4448
7Barangay Ginebra Kings711.3899
8Shell Turbo Chargers711.3899
9FedEx Express513.27811
10Purefoods TJ Hotdogs414.22212

Wildcard phase

ABC
June 5
Purefoods TJ Hotdogs 92, Coca-Cola Tigers 94
PhilSports Arena, Pasig
ABC
June 5
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 105, FedEx Express 103
PhilSports Arena, Pasig
ABC
June 6
Shell Turbo Chargers 82, Red Bull Barako 83
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 6
Sta. Lucia Realtors 105, Barangay Ginebra Kings 108
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Quarterfinal round

Groups

Group AGroup B
#1 seeded team#2 seeded team
Winner of #4 vs #9 wildcard playoffWinner of #3 vs #10 wildcard playoff
Winner of #5 vs #8 wildcard playoffWinner of #6 vs #7 wildcard playoff
U.S. Pro-Am SelectionUBC Thunderbirds

Group A

PosTeamWLPCTGBQualification
1Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters301.000Semifinals
2Red Bull Thunder21.6671
3San Miguel Beermen12.3332
4U.S. Pro-Am Selection (G)03.0003
ABC
June 9
Red Bull Barako 96, San Miguel Beermen 89
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 12
San Miguel Beermen 92, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 104
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 13
U.S. Pro-Am Selection 91, Red Bull Barako 101
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 16
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 127, U.S. Pro-Am Selection 115
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 19
Red Bull Barako 115, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 119
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 20
U.S. Pro-Am Selection 104, San Miguel Beermen 106
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Group B

PosTeamWLPCTGBQualification
1Coca-Cola Tigers301.000Semifinals
2Barangay Ginebra Kings21.6671
3Alaska Aces12.3332
4UBC Thunderbirds (G)03.0003
ABC
June 9
Barangay Ginebra Kings 80, Alaska Aces 73
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 12
Alaska Aces 76, Coca-Cola Tigers 92
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 13
UBC Thunderbirds 79, Barangay Ginebra Kings 110
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 16
Coca-Cola Tigers 110, UBC Thunderbirds 95
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 19
Barangay Ginebra Kings 90, Coca-Cola Tigers 91
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 20
UBC Thunderbirds 70, Alaska Aces 90
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Two guest teams participated in the tournament, the University of British Columbia men's basketball team and the US Pro-Am Selection. Both never won a single game in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Bracket

Semifinals (original seed) (best-of-3)Finals (best-of-5)
A1Talk 'N Text (4)1
B2Barangay Ginebra (7)2
A2Barangay Ginebra (7)3
B2Red Bull (5)1
B1Coca-Cola (3)1
A2Red Bull (5)2Third-place playoff
A1Talk 'N Text (4)113
B1Coca-Cola (3)104

Semifinals

(A1) Talk 'N Text vs. (B2) Barangay Ginebra

ABC
June 23
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 95, Barangay Ginebra Kings 100
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 25
Barangay Ginebra Kings 106, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 116
PhilSports Arena, Pasig
ABC
June 27
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 103, Barangay Ginebra Kings 111
Barangay Ginebra wins series, 2–1
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

(B1) Coca-Cola vs. (A2) Red Bull

ABC
June 23
Coca-Cola Tigers 91, Red Bull Barako 87
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
June 25
Red Bull Barako 95, Coca-Cola Tigers 88
PhilSports Arena, Pasig
ABC
June 27
Coca-Cola Tigers 91, Red Bull Barako 101
Red Bull wins series, 2–1
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Third place playoff

ABC
June 30
Coca-Cola Tigers 104, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 113
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Finals

The 2004 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference finals was the best-of-5 basketball championship series of the 2004 PBA Fiesta Conference, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. Barangay Ginebra Kings and Red Bull Barako played for the 87th championship contested by the league.

The Barangay Ginebra won their 5th league championship with a 3–1 series victory over Red Bull. This is their first championship since 1997 Commissioner's.

Scores

ABC
June 30
Barangay Ginebra Kings 94, Red Bull Barako 92
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
July 2
Red Bull Barako 107, Barangay Ginebra Kings 103
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
July 4
Barangay Ginebra Kings 94, Red Bull Barako 84
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
ABC
July 7
Red Bull Barako 86, Barangay Ginebra Kings 103
Barangay Ginebra wins series, 3–1
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 16,468

Ginebra became the lowest seed (7th seed) ever to win a PBA championship, to be followed by the San Miguel Beermen in the 2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup.

Broadcast notes

GamePlay-by-playAnalyst
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4Mico HaliliTJ Manotoc

Awards

Eric Menk of Barangay Ginebra was named the Best Player of the Conference while Red Bull's Victor Thomas is the conference Best Import.

External links

Preceded by2003 PBA seasonPBA seasons Transitional conferenceSucceeded by2004-05 PBA season
Preceded by2003 PBA Reinforced ConferencePBA conferences 2004Succeeded by2004-05 PBA Philippine Cup