The Bacolod City of Smiles, alternatively known as the Bacolod Maskaras, is a Filipino professional basketball team based in Bacolod. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. They are one of two teams based in the Negros Island Region, the other being the Negros Muscovados. Both teams play their home games at La Salle Coliseum.
| Bacolod City of Smiles | |
|---|---|
 2024 Bacolod City of Smiles season | |
 | |
| League | MPBL (2019–present) FilBasket (2022) |
| Founded | 2019; 5 years ago (2019) |
| History | Bacolod Master Sardines 2019–2020 All-Star Bacolod Ballers 2021–2022 Bacolod Bingo Plus 2022 Bacolod City of Smiles 2023–present |
| Arena | La Salle Coliseum |
| Location | Bacolod |
| Team colors | |
| Head coach | Alex Cabagnot |
The team was founded as the Bacolod Master Sardines when it began play in the 2019–20 season.[1]
The Bacolod Master Sardines joined the MPBL as an expansion team for the 2019–20 season, becoming one of the first two teams from Western Visayas alongside fellow expansion side Iloilo United Royals.[1][2] In its inaugural season, Bacolod finished 11–19, 11th in the South Division.
In the 2021 MPBL Invitational, the team entered as the All-Star Bacolod Ballers and was drawn into Group A alongside future expansion team Negros Muscovados. In the group stage, the All-Star Ballers finished 3–2, finishing third in the group, failing to make the playoffs.
In the 2022 season, reigning Finals MVP Mark Yee joined Bacolod. Yee helped bring the team to its first playoff appearance, finished 5th in the South Division with a 14–7 record. Yee went on to win Defensive Player of the Year honors. The team beat fourth-seeded GenSan in the First Round,[3] and forced a Game 3 against first-seeded Zamboanga in the Division Semifinals but ended up losing that game.[4] Before the 2023 season, some of its players, including Yee and Jhan Nermal left the team to join the Bacoor City Strikers.[5] Bacolod dropped to 9th, one game behind 8th-seeded Iloilo to once again miss the playoffs with an 11–17 record.
In 2024, nine-time PBA champion Alex Cabagnot joined as head coach of the team.
The team was invited to FilBasket for its 2022 Summer Championship before beginning its 2022 MPBL campaign. Bacolod finished third in the elimination round with seven wins and made the semifinals before losing to the Nueva Ecija Capitals in two games.[6]
The team's current identity derives from Bacolod's moniker as the "City of Smiles" in the country. The alternate name, Maskaras, alludes to the MassKara Festival which is held in Bacolod city.
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Updated as of: June 14, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| # | Name | Term | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vic Ycasiano | 2019–20 | |
| 2 | Alexander Angeles | 2021–2022 | |
| 3 | Monel Kallos | 2023 | |
| 4 | Vincent Salvador | 2023 | |
| 5 | Alex Cabagnot | 2024–present |
| Bacolod City of Smiles notable players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Tenure | Awards | All-Star |
| Paolo Javelona | 2019–2020 | — | 1(2020) | |
| Mark Yee | 2022 | 1x Defensive Player of the Year (2022) | 1(2022) | |
| League champions | |
| Division champions | |
| Qualified for playoffs | |
| Best regular season record |
| Season | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | |||
| Bacolod Master Sardines | |||||||||
| 2019–20 Lakan Season |
South | 11th | 11 | 19 | .367 | Did not qualify | |||
| Bacolod Bingo Plus | |||||||||
| 2022 | South | 5th | 14 | 7 | .667 | First Round Division Semifinals |
won vs. General Santos, 2–1 lost vs. Zamboanga, 1–2 | ||
| Bacolod City of Smiles | |||||||||
| 2023 | South | 9th | 11 | 17 | .393 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2024 | South | To be determined | |||||||
| All-time regular season record | 36 | 43 | .456 | 1 playoff appearance | |||||
| All-time playoff record | 3 | 3 | .500 | 0 Finals appearances | |||||
| All-time overall record | 39 | 46 | .459 | 0 championships | |||||
