On November 19, 1985, the Great Taste Coffeemakers were up against Northern Consolidated Cement, an amateur guest team consisting mostly of the national team that won the Jones Cup earlier in the year (under the banner of San Miguel).
There are many reasons why this game is significant. Firstly, it was a do-or-die match, with the winner moving on to the Finals to meet Manila Beer. Second, the stakes were high for Great Taste. They won the first two conferences, and were on the verge to become only the second team to win a coveted Grand Slam.
Third, and most important, the Coffeemakers were led by 1985 PBA Most Valuable Player, Ricardo Brown, aka the Quick Brown Fox. Brown was one of the earliest famous Fil-Americans, one of the most prolific scorers in the league.
Side note: Brown was one of those rare local players who were good enough to score more points than their import. Perhaps the only other local player I can remember was Alvin Patrimonio.
The distinct reason that drove this game to memory was that Brown, who had a historically great season, scored zero points. In the most pivotal game of his career, he failed to score. It was the only time in his career that he got a big fat egg on his box score.
Deja Vu?
The Philippines won the Jones Cup again in 2024. The MVP of the Jones Cup was Chris McCullough, a former PBA import with San Miguel. He notoriously scored just 12 points on a 4-16 clip from the field in the Finals game.
What is the connection between the two? In the Philippines, there is a basketball term like "benta" (literally "sale") which implies that the play of a certain player was fixed (allegedly sold).
Brown's off day came at the most ill-advised time, and their opponent was NCC, the team that was assembled by businessman and basketball patriarch Danding Cojuangco. Until this day, Brown credits his Philippine basketball career to Cojuangco, and regrets how he was not able to play for him in the PBA (since the Soriano group handled San Miguel when Brown eventually joined).
McCullough's off night was during the gold medal game, against the host team from Taiwan. The backstory is that McCullough presented himself to the Philippines to be naturalized, but the SBP did not seem interested. Eventually, it was revealed that McCullough got an offer to be the naturalized import of Taiwan.
In both cases, the prolific players had off nights in the most crucial games, against opponents that they had personal ties with.
Credibility and Culture
Game-fixing is easy to accuse. In the two examples of alleged game fixing incidents, the main factor was a deviation from the consistent performance. However, that is not enough, since there are off-days and off-nights.
In crucial games, the defense will be tight on the top players. The Jones Cup is a short tournament, but McCullough is not a stranger on those shores. Brown was the MVP, and he had been torching opponents the entire year. He scored 40+ points on multiple occasions that year, and had one of the highest shooting clips by a local.
Side note: Brown holds the highest scoring average by a local in the PBA (23.1).
That also happens in the NBA, where there are actual game-fixing convictions involving referees and very marginal players. But no one would accuse LeBron James of game fixing, even when he has notorious off nights.
It is a matter of credibility. As mentioned, the NBA convicted referees who were involved in game fixing. The PBA has not, so it remains unresolved in the public perception. This is our culture. We smell a rat, and assume that there is a rat. Even when we have not seen the rat, as long as the rat is not caught, we still think it's there.
Another reason is money. The NBA players' salaries are astronomical, and game fixers are not likely to afford them. There is too much at stake–billions of dollars in endorsements, for them to risk their credibility.
Philippine basketball has far to go to be above suspicion.