Wikipedia - Bacolod City of Smiles
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 three teams based in Western Visayas. The team plays their home games at La Salle Coliseum, which they share with their Negros island rivals, the Negros Muscovados.
The team was founded as the Bacolod Master Sardines when it began play in the 2019–20 season.
History
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
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. 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, and forced a Game 3 against first-seeded Zamboanga in the Division Semifinals but ended up losing that game. Before the 2023 season, some of its players, including Yee and Jhan Nermal left the team to join the Bacoor City Strikers. 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.
FilBasket
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.