The Batang Red Bull franchise became the 10th member of the PBA at the start of the 2000 season and Coca-Cola were one of the two newest teams beginning the 2002 season. Unlike the FedEx/Air21 Express which never won a crown, the Thunder and the Tigers captured their first championship in their initial finals appearance, each had five finals trips with Red Bull winning three titles and Coca-Cola with two. Both young ballclubs provided a new breed of excitement in the pro league during the first five years of the new millennium.
In 2001, Red Bull made history by being the fastest team to win the PBA crown by bagging the Commissioner’s Cup trophy and managed to successfully defend it the following year. That same year 2002, Coca-Cola broke Red Bull’s record by winning their first title in their very first season. The cumulative standings at the end of the year saw Coca-Cola (31-16) and Red Bull (30-17) finishes at number one and two. Which of them is the better team overall.
In the regular two-conference format, Red Bull no doubt is the better squad as they played the Purefoods Chunkee Giants twice in the finals and were consistently in the top four until the 2007-08 season. The Barakos missed out the semifinal series only once in the 2004-05 Philippine Cup. The Tigers have been on the tail end of the standings ever since coach Chot Reyes left. The only time they were above .500 was in the 2008 Fiesta Conference where the Tigers lost to Magnolia Beverage Masters in the quarterfinal series.
So to make it a more even discussion, the comparisons will only be up to the transition tournament in 2004. Red Bull will have a 2-1 finals record while Coca-Cola is 2-2. Their two common finals opponent are San Miguel Beermen and Talk ‘N Text Phone Pals. An interesting fact is that Red Bull and Coca-Cola are two of the only three teams that the winningest franchise San Miguel never had a “W” in a championship series (the other being Great Taste in 1985). The Thunder’s 4-2 victory over the Beermen in the 2001 Commissioner’s Cup is definitely more impressive compared to the Tigers’ 4-3 win in the 2003 Reinforced Conference. Red Bull defeated San Miguel that was coming off three straight championships and a winner of five of the last six conferences. Coca-Cola beat the Beermen that were saddled by import problems early and somehow got lucky to make it all the way to the finals after starting off at 0-5 and won only five of their 13 games in the eliminations. Red Bull also has the edge in winning their seven-game series with Talk ‘N Text whereas Coca-Cola lost to the Phone Pals in six in the 2003 All-Filipino Cup.
The best case for Coke is the four straight finals stint, two of which were in the All-Filipino. This is something Red Bull weren’t able to achieve. During the Tigers’ winning run, twice they almost played Red Bull in the finals and each time, it was Alaska that denied the Thunder or the Barakos. The Aces defeated Red Bull in the deciding third game after falling behind 0-1 in their semifinal series in the 2002 All-Filipino Cup and in the 2003 Invitationals, Alaska set up a finals rematch with Coca-Cola by winning over Red Bull in the other pair of the crossover semis.
The most notable game of Coca-Cola and Red Bull has to be the June 13, 2003 quarterfinals match. The Tigers’ 80-79 squeaker eliminates the top-seeded Red Bull with the amazing 14-4 won-loss record from the final four. It was the Tigers’ first win over the Thunder in the All-Filipino after three tries which dates back to their lone meeting last year. Coach Yeng Guiao piloted Red Bull once again to the number one ranking in the Reinforced Third Conference and they shared the top spot with Coca-Cola in their group with 11 wins and two losses, but the Barakos were upset by number four seed Talk ‘N Text in a physical quarterfinal series that saw team owner Tony Chua walking out with six minutes left in the deciding game and cebuano hotshot Jimwell Torion giving a hard tackle on TNT playmaker Jimmy Alapag in the last 46 seconds of Red Bull’s disappointing 81-95 loss to the Phone Pals.
Finally in 2004 Fiesta Conference, Red Bull and Coca-Cola got to play in a short, best-of-three semifinal series. The Barakos prevailed, two games to one, as they ended the Tigers’ streak of finals appearances and this would lead to Red Bull’s 1-3 defeat at the hands of Barangay Ginebra Kings, which is their first finals loss and incidentally, Coca-Cola’s first championship back in 2002 All-Filipino when they beat Alaska, 3-1, were the only two best-of-five title series in the 2000 era.
Even though Coca-Cola have been in the thick of the fight for five straight conferences, my choice on which is the better team is still Red Bull. Their players maybe considered overachievers, Willie Miller, Lordy Tugade, Davonn Harp, Mick Pennisi, Junthy Valenzuela, Jimwell Torion and later on, Enrico Villanueva and Cyrus Baguio. The Tigers in their first two seasons tried to relieve the 90s dynasty of the Alaska team and at one point had Johnny Abarrientos, Poch Juinio, Jeffrey Cariaso, Bong Hawkins and Cris Bolado in their lineup. Their best players who were non-Alaska are Rudy Hatfield, Rafi Reavis and Ato Morano.
The original Red Bull team technically spent 10 seasons in the PBA when in their final season in 2010-2011, the Photokina Marketing franchise saw action only for one conference in the Philippine Cup before disbanding. Coca-Cola likewise played 10 seasons in the pro league and made it to the finals once in their final year as Powerade Tigers.
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