Pampanga Giant Lanterns

For the Christmas lantern festival in Pampanga that the team is named after, see Giant Lantern Festival.

Pampanga Giant Lanterns
2024 Pampanga Giant Lanterns season
League	MPBL (2018–present) PSL (2022–2023)
Founded	2018 (2018)
History	Pampanga Lanterns 2018–2019 Pampanga Giant Lanterns 2019–present (MPBL) Pampanga G Lanterns 2022–2023 (PSL)
Arena	Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center
Location	Pampanga
Team colors
Main sponsor	AMG3 Construction
Head coach	Dennis Pineda
Championships	MPBL: 1 (2023) PSL: 1 (2022–23)
Conference titles	MPBL: 1 (2023)

The Pampanga Giant Lanterns, also known as Pampanga Giant Lanterns – AMG3 Construction for sponsorship reasons, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the province of Pampanga. 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 Central Luzon region and play their home games at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando.

The team began play in the 2018–19 season as an expansion team. The team has also took part in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL). The team is owned by the Provincial Government of Pampanga.

The Pampanga-based franchise has won two league championships, one in the MPBL and one in the PSL.

History

2018–2022: Playoff contention

2018–2020: Beginnings in Angeles

Pampanga first joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as one of sixteen expansion teams for the 2018–19 season. The team first played their first two seasons in Angeles City. The team tied with the Caloocan Supremos for the 8th seed in the playoffs, as both teams share a record of 11–14. The latter got ahead of Pampanga due to the head-to-head tiebreaker, causing the Lanterns to miss the playoffs.

Playoff hopes for Pampanga didn't stop there, as in the 2019–20 season, the team moved up to 4th with a record of 21–9, giving them their first playoff appearance. In the playoffs, the team first met with their Central Luzon neighbor Bataan Risers in the First Round, in which Pampanga beat in two games. Afterwards, they met the defending champion San Juan Knights in the Division Semifinals, where San Juan would beat Pampanga in two games.

2022: Move to San Fernando

The 2022 season saw the team move to San Fernando. That season also saw Pampanga finish 4th, with a record of 14–7. Once again, the team met Bataan in the First Round, but this time, Bataan won game 2 in overtime to force a third game. Even then, Pampanga beat Bataan in game 3 to once again advance to the Division Semifinals. They then met another Central Luzon neighbor, this time being the undefeatedd Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, in which Nueva Ecija would sweep Pampanga out of the playoffs once again. Archie Concepcion would also win the Homegrown Player of the Year award that season.

2022–present: Championship contention

2022–present: Justine Baltazar joins the team

In between the 2022 and 2023 MPBL seasons, the Pampanga Giant Lanterns franchise made its way to the Pilipinas Super League for the 2022 DUMPER Cup. It was at that time in which homegrown big man Justine Baltazar made his arrival to the team in December. The team finished with a 10–5 record, ending up in a three-way tie between them, Santa Rosa, and Caloocan. In the head-to-head tiebreaker, Pampanga finished ahead of both teams, claiming the 4th seed in the playoffs. Pampanga beat Santa Rosa and undefeated San Juan on their way to the Finals against the Davao Occidental Tigers. Pampanga went on to beat Davao Occidental in two games to clinch their first-ever championship in franchise history.

Following their PSL championship, the team made its way back to the MPBL for the 2023 season. In May, the team acquired former Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters player Encho Serrano, which helped the team catapult to a league-leading 26–2 record, only losing to Batangas City and Makati during the regular season. The 26 wins is tied for the most regular season wins in a single season in the MPBL, together with San Juan and Davao Occidental in 2020. In time for the Division Quarterfinals, nine-time PBA champion Arwind Santos joined the Giant Lanterns. The team continued their dominance from the regular season by not losing a single game en route to the 2023 MPBL Finals against the Bacoor City Strikers. In three games, they would go to win their first MPBL title on December 2, 2023. The Pampanga Giant Lanterns became the first MPBL team to go undefeated throughout the playoffs, winning nine straight games. Throughout their playoff run, Pampanga also clinched the first series sweeps in both the Division Finals and National Finals.

The team then took part in the 2024 Preseason Invitational, with Jeff Viernes joining the preseason squad. After a sweep in the group stage, the Giant Lanterns would make the Finals against the South Cotabato Warriors, which they would win 93–75, making them the first Luzon-based Invitational champions.

Team identity

The team is named after the Giant Lantern Festival which takes place in San Fernando., but the word "giant" was left out in their inaugural season, simply going by the Pampanga Lanterns. Once the 2019–20 season started, the team was renamed into its current form: the Pampanga Giant Lanterns. During its PSL stint, the team's name was shortened to the Pampanga G Lanterns.

Orange has always been a prominent color for the Pampanga franchise. Since its PSL stint, blue has also become a prominent color, mainly on the team's home jersey.

Home venues

During the team's Angeles City era, the team played their home games at Angeles University Foundation. Since their move to San Fernando in 2022, the team's home games are played at Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.

Venue	Location	2018–19	2019–20	2022	2023	2024
Angeles University Foundation (Angeles University Foundation Gymnasium)	Angeles, Pampanga	Y	Y	N	N	TBA
Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center	San Fernando, Pampanga	N	N	Y	Y	Y

Current roster

Pampanga Giant Lanterns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From C 1 Muyang, Larry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1995–06–04 Letran G 2 Concepcion, Archie (HG) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Arellano G 3 Garcia, Paul 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Ateneo F 4 Santos, Kevin Kyle (HG) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Letran C 5 Ramirez, Brandon (HG) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) G 7 Alcoriza, Rence Luis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Arellano C 8 Eguilos, Jhaymo 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1986–08–27 Far Eastern F 9 Dela Cruz, Joshua (HG) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) F 10 Estil, Sonny (SGL) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) G 11 Garcia, MJ (HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) SPCF C 12 Gob II, John Winfred 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) UP Diliman G 13 Reyson, Kurt 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Letran F 16 Gozum, Martin (HG) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) F 17 Corteza, Miguel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 1998–02–23 St. Benilde G 18 Serrano, Encho (HG) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 1999–09–18 De La Salle F 19 Baltazar, Justine (HG) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1997–02–19 De La Salle C 22 Santos, Ronan (HG) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Arellano C 25 De Leon, Matt (HG) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Arellano G 30 Binuya, Raymond (HG) 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) San Sebastian F 43 Liwag, Allen (SGL) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) St. Benilde F/C 45 Flores, Lervin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1992–09–26 Arellano G 74 Viernes, Jeff 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 143 lb (65 kg) 1989–05–18 St. Clare	Head coach Dennis Pineda Assistant coach(es) Hupmerdink Dimatulac Manuel Luis Marquez Billy Bansil Jordan Viray Camille Istle Santos Jay Sierra Legend (HG) Homegrown (FF) Filipino-foreigner (SGL) Special Guest Licensee Injured Roster – via Genius Sports Updated as of: April 9, 2024

Head coaches

#	Name	Term	Ref.
1	Isaiah Duenas	2018
2	Aldrin Morante	2018–19
3	Bong Ramos	2019–20
4	Jordan Viray	2022
5	Dennis Pineda	2022–present

Notable players

Pampanga Giant Lanterns notable players
Player	Position	Tenure	Awards	All-Star
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
Levi Hernandez		2018–2020	—	1 (2019)
Michael Juico		2018–2020	—	1 (2020)
Archie Concepcion		2022–2023	1x Homegrown Player of the Year (2022) 1x All-MPBL Second Team (2023)	1 (2022)
Justine Baltazar		2023–present	1x Finals Most Valuable Player (2023) 1x Most Valuable Player (2023) 1x All-MPBL First Team (2023)	1 (2023)
Encho Serrano		2023–present	—	1 (2023)

Season-by-season records

	League champions
	Division champions
	Qualified for playoffs
	Best regular season record

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

Season	Regular season							Playoffs
	Division	Finish	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Stage	Results
Pampanga Lanterns
2018–19 Datu Cup	North	9th	25	11	14	.440	12	Did not qualify
Pampanga Giant Lanterns
2019–20 Lakan Season	North	4th	30	21	9	.700	5	First Round Division Semifinals	won vs. Bataan, 2–0 lost vs. San Juan, 0–2
2022	North	4th	21	14	7	.667	7	First Round Division Semifinals	won vs. Bataan, 2–1 lost vs. Nueva Ecija, 0–2
2023	North	1st	28	26	2	.929	—	First Round Division Semifinals Division Finals National Finals	won vs. Marikina, 2–0 won vs. Caloocan, 2–0 won vs. San Juan, 2–0 won vs. Bacoor City, 3–0
2024	North	To be determined
All-time regular season record			104	72	32	.692		3 playoff appearances
All-time playoff record			18	13	5	.722		1 Finals appearance
All-time overall record			122	85	37	.697		1 championship

Pilipinas Super League

Tournament	Elimination round						Playoffs
	Finish	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Stage	Results
Pampanga G Lanterns
2022–23 DUMPER Cup	4th	15	10	5	.667	5	Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	won vs. Santa Rosa, 1–0 won vs. San Juan, 2–0 won vs. Davao Occidental, 2–0
All-time elimination round record		15	10	5	.667		1 playoff appearance
All-time playoff record		5	5	0	1.000		1 Finals appearance
All-time overall record		20	15	5	.800		1 championship