Summary
The Rizal Golden Coolers, also known as the Rizal Xentromall Golden Coolers for sponsorship reasons, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the province of Rizal. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. They are one of five teams based in the Calabarzon region and play their home games at Ynares Center in Antipolo.
| Rizal Golden Coolers | |
|---|---|
 2024 Rizal Golden Coolers season | |
 | |
| League | MPBL |
| Founded | 2018 |
| History | Rizal Crusaders 2018–2019 Rizal Golden Coolers 2019–present |
| Arena | Ynares Center One Arena |
| Location | Rizal |
| Team colors | |
| Main sponsor | PTC Foodsphere Asia Corp. AMRC Holdings Company, Inc. EMKAI Non-Specialized Wholesale Trading |
| Head coach | Ralph Rivera |
The team began play during the 2018–19 season as the Rizal Crusaders. Team ownership said that the name was chosen as the province of Rizal is known for "crusades, mountaineering, and other stuff". Originally, the team was going to be called the Rizal Ankle Breakers, but was changed due to criticism that the name didn't have any relation to the province of Rizal.[1][2]
In 2023, a volleyball team of the same name began play as one of eight charter teams in the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association's (MPVA) inaugural season.
History edit
Rizal struggled during its first two seasons, ending up with the worst record of the division in both instances. In the 2018–19 season, the team finished 7-18, last place in the Southern Division. In the 2019–20 season, the team finished 7-22, last place in the Northern Division.
Despite struggling in the 2021 Invitational, with a record of 1-4, the team rose up in the 2022 season. The Golden Coolers finished the season 10-11, earning a playoff appearance for the first time. As the sixth seed, they upset the third-seed Sarangani in the First Round, but would go on to be swept by Batangas City in the Division Semifinals,
Home arenas edit
The Rizal-based team's main arena is the Ynares Center, located in Antipolo. In 2023, the team played its first game outside Anitpolo, heading to Cainta to play at One Arena.
Current roster edit
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Head coaches edit
| # | Name | Term | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Braulio Lim Jr. | 2018–19 | |
| 2 | Jayvee Gayoso | 2019–20 | |
| 3 | Rodney Santos | 2021 | |
| 4 | Jonathan Banal | 2022–2023 | |
| 5 | Ralph Emerson Rivera | 2024 |
Notable players edit
| Rizal Golden Coolers notable players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Tenure | Awards | All-Star |
| Marco Balagtas | 2018–2019 2024–present |
— | 1 (2019) | |
| Mark Benitez | 2018–2022 | — | 1 (2020) | |
| Jboy Gob | 2022–2023 | — | 1 (2023) | |
| Troy Mallillin | 2022–2023 | — | 2 (2022, 2023) | |
Season-by-season records edit
| League champions | |
| Division champions | |
| Qualified for playoffs | |
| Best regular season record |
| Season | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | |||
| Rizal Crusaders | |||||||||
| 2018–19 Datu Cup |
South | 13th | 7 | 18 | .280 | Did not qualify | |||
| Rizal Golden Coolers | |||||||||
| 2019–20 Lakan Season |
North | 16th | 6 | 23 | .207 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2022 | South | 6th | 10 | 11 | .476 | First Round Division Semifinals |
won vs. Sarangani, 2–0 lost vs. Batangas City, 0–2 | ||
| 2023 | North | 10th | 12 | 16 | .429 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2024 | North | To be determined | |||||||
| All-time regular season record | 35 | 68 | .340 | 1 playoff appearance | |||||
| All-time playoff record | 2 | 2 | .500 | 0 Finals appearances | |||||
| All-time overall record | 37 | 70 | .346 | 0 championships | |||||
References edit