Gin Kings' first round choice. The 2009–2010 Philippine Cup Championship Run Early Struggle Despite the roster build-up in the offseason, the Giants had a roller coaster ride in the first round of the Classification Phase of the 2009–2010 KFC PBA Philippine Cup. They struggled to win back-to-back games even with its balanced line-up and an impressive performance by the rookie Rico Maierhofer. They won the season opener (October 11) against Burger King, but lost some games in dismal fashion, including an upset by the Asi Taulava-less Coke Tigers just before the Halloween break. They ended the first round with a mediocre 5–4 record, capped by a win over Sta. Lucia in an out-of-town game. Establishing Chemistry Purefoods, whom many people dubbed as one of the teams to beat for the said tournament, finally scored back-to-back wins on December 2 against Coca-Cola. During the same gameday, Purefoods-Hormel celebrated 10 years of partnership. The event saw the unveiling of TJ, the new team mascot, a halftime show for the kids, and the Giants wearing commemorative jerseys. Purefoods strung up two more wins against Brgy. Ginebra and Barako Bull to extend its winning streak to four. Powerhouse San Miguel put an end to the Giants' streak in mid-December. As it was the second time the Beermeen dominated the Giants, and league-leading Alaska also defeated the team in the first round, doubts were raised whether Purefoods could really hold its own against the contenders. The team also lost to Talk N' Text just before the Christmas break, dampening its hopes of securing one of the two outright semifinal slots. Post-Holiday Rampage Purefoods bounced back from its consecutive losses by beating Burger King on Christmas Day. They followed it up with a no-bearing win against the guest team, Smart Gilas to start the New Year. Purefoods also swept the rest of its schedule, with the streak highlighted by a convincing win over the league-leading Alaska on January 15. Because Alaska and San Miguel did well in the first round of the Eliminations, the Giants failed to steal an outright semifinal slot from the Aces, who needed to win their last scheduled game to avoid a tie-breaker with Purefoods. The Giants ended the classification phase with a record of 12–6, third overall in the standings, which gave them an outright quarterfinal slot. In the quarters, the Giants extended their win streak to six by winning the