the All-Filipino Cup), the Beermen finished the classification phase with an even 9–9 record. In the quarterfinals, San Miguel swept the Sta. Lucia Realtors in a three-game series. Then, the Beermen also swept Alaska in the quarterfinals. In the semis against sister rival Barangay Ginebra, the Beermen took a 2–1 series in the best-of-five affair but the Kings won the next two games to win the series, that capped with Rodney Santos' game-winner in the deciding game. The Beermen then beat Shell to cop third-place in the tournament. Chris Burgess was San Miguel's import for the 2005 Fiesta Conference. San Miguel finished the classification phase in second place to gain an outright semi-finals berth. Midway to the semis, Burgess was replaced by Ace Custis and became an effective replacement for San Miguel. The Beermen eliminated Red Bull in the semi-finals to enter the Finals against the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals. The Beermen defeated the Phone Pals 4–1 to give the team its 17th PBA title in team history and ended its four-year title drought; it was also the first time in their last six championships that they've won a title with Danny Seigle as a non-factor in the playoffs. He was injured for almost the entire semi-finals and played only in Game 5 of the Finals. It was Jong Uichico's sixth PBA crown as coach. After their performance a year ago, San Miguel was heavily favored in the 2005–06 Fiesta Conference to defend their crown. They added import Rico Hill to bolster the lineup along with former Shell Turbo Charger Chris Calaguio. But SMB's high expectations became a disappointment. The Beermen started off with a 0–4 record before winning a game against the Air21 Express in Aklan. Hill was replaced by Kwan Johnson but the Beermen lost four more games to fall to 1–8. But the Beermen won the next five games; Johnson was suffering an injury and was temporarily replaced by Kevin Freeman. The Beermen finished with a 6–10 card and eighth place in the nine-team classification phase. Johnson returned in time for San Miguel against ten-sister team Coca-Cola in the survivor round. The Beermen had a twice to beat edge, but the Tigers won the first encounter on January 6. A day later, Ildefonso's game-winner propelled the Beermen to the next round. In the Wildcard phase against the Express, they ended up losing in three games. Before