The 2023 MPBL Preseason Invitational was the preseason pocket tournament for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

and the second edition of the MPBL Preseason Invitational. The tournament began February 21, 2023 and ended with the final game on February 27, 2023 when the

Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines The Zamboanga Family's Atami Brand Sardines, formerly the Zamboanga-Family's Brand Sardines Valientes, are a professional basketball team in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. Its name is due to sponsorship with Universal Canning Inc. ...

beat the

Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards are a professional basketball team based in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. It competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), and formerly in the Filbasket under the name of Nueva Ecija Capitals, as well a ...

, 88–80. Dexter Maiquez was crowned the tournament's MVP. The tournament was once again held at a single venue, this time being the Lagao Gymnasium in

General Santos General Santos, officially the City of General Santos,; hil, Dakbanwa sang Heneral Santos; Maguindanao language, Maguindanao: ''Ingud nu Heneral Santos''; Blaan language, Blaan: ''Banwe Dadiangas''; Tboli language, Tboli: ''Benwu Dadiangas'' ...

, home of the GenSan Warriors, with a format is similar to that of the previous edition, albeit downsized to accommodate the smaller pool of teams.

Teams

A total of eight teams competed in the tournament. These include seven MPBL teams, as well as ''Bulalakaw'', a local team based in General Santos, as the league’s first-ever guest team. Making their first Invitational appearances were the

Batangas City Embassy Chill The Batangas City Embassy Chill is a professional basketball team currently competing in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the Filbasket. The team traces its roots to the original Tanduay Rhum Masters that played in the Philip ...

(competing as the ''Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters'') and

. ; Notes

Format

The tournament is divided into two stages: the group stage and the playoffs. The eight participating teams are divided into two groups of four. Both groups play in a single round-robin format, wherein each team plays one game against all other teams within the same group. The top two teams in each group advance to a two-round, single-elimination playoffs consisting of all knockout games. This time around, every team was given prize money based on their standings: ₱3 million for the champion, ₱500,000 for the runner-up, ₱300,000 for the third-place team, ₱200,000 for the fourth-place team, and ₱100,000 for all non-playoff teams.

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals

Battle for Third

Finals

Media

This was the first MPBL Invitational under Cignal TV's ongoing broadcast partnership with the league. The games were broadcast on

One PH One PH is a 24/7 Tagalog-language teleradio news channel owned by MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. through Cignal TV. It was soft launched on February 18, 2019 and was officially launched on July 31, 2019, on satellite provider Cignal. It can also be s ...

and One Sports+ on television. The league streamed all of the games online on Facebook and YouTube.

References

{{2023 MPBL season by team

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Preseason Invitational