The 'New" Bernard Harris: Walking Tall with Crispa (Sports Weekly, 1979)

Sports Weekly Magazine

November 30-December 7, 1979

Peter N. Acosta

 

 

            He got in the Crispa lineup via a majority vote of all the players of the Pasig ballclub, winning handily over Norm Kelly of the Honda Wildcats, and in his first game with his new team, Bernard Harris, formerly of Tanduay, repaid his new teammates’ vote of confidence with a performance that showed he just might be what the doctor ordered as the replacement for the discredited Cyrus Mann.

 

            “I’m happy tonight,” said the Crispa Walk Tall Jeansmakers’ end-of-the-season acquisition whose first stint in the PBA was with the defunct Seven-Up ballclub in 1976 before he made the switch the following year to the Esquires.

 

            If Harris was happy, there was no doubt that the Crispa front office men – owner Danny Floro and Coach Baby Dalupan – were doubly more so.

 

 

 

            For in his first time with the Walk Tall team, Harris proved his awesome potential as Irv Chatman’s partner when he anchored Crispa to a 116-88 romp over the second conference champion, Royal Tru Orange.

 

            Aside from banging a game-high 31 points, Harris hauled down 22 rebounds and came through with three assists.

 

            But what made Harris’ debut with Crispa all the more remarkable was that he outrebounded the indomitable Otto Moore – 22 to 20 – and played so smoothly with a team whose play patterns he was unfamiliar with.

 

            And Harris admits that despite his crackerjack showing for Crispa against Royal, he felt he had not completely gotten into the swing of the Walk Tall Jeansmakers’ game.

 

            “I’m still trying to blend with the team,” he said, while all around him, his new teammates exulted on the way he had more than ably filled in for Mann, whose contract was rescinded by the Crispa management towards the end of the last PBA conference when it realized it could not get him – despite earnest efforts – to kick his old drug habit.

 

            Harris went on: “It takes a while to blend with a new team. Crispa has an entirely different style from Tanduay. Although both are running teams, I believe Crispa has a little more depth and a little more sock.”

           

            Asked if before Crispa’s game with Royal he received any specific instructions from Coach Dalupan, Harris smiled. “None really. No specific instructions.”

 

            So how was he able to perform so well against Otto Moore, Royal’s dominating slotman?

 

            “Oh that,” he said. “Well, I’ve always felt that to cut down Moore’s effectiveness in the rebounds, you’ve got to box him out. I think I did that tonight.”

 

            On the observation that he appeared to have improved on his field goal performance with Crispa, Harris attributed this to his being able “to take more outside shots with confidence…feeling more at ease taking such shots with Crispa.”

 

 

 

            Along with the veteran Gene Moore, Harris played for the first time with Tanduay in the 1977 second conference but he never finished the season when he suffered an arm injury when the Esquires took on the Toyota Tamaraws in an out of town game in Bacolod.

 

            Last year, it was David Payne who teamed up with Moore for Tanduay, thus Harris was not with the Esquires when they made the finals of the 1978 third conference.

 

            But this time around, things may be different for Harris.

 

            He figures to play in a title playoff – with Crispa.

 

            “I think that if we continue playing the way we did against Royal, we have a pretty good chance of making the finals,” he said.

 

            Asked if his joining Crispa came after long-drawn negotiations, Harris said, “it was not hard reaching a decision to play with Crispa.”

 

            “I understand the whole team voted for me,” he continued. “I can only hope I can keep up the kind of game I played tonight.”

 

            As to his future plans or specifically, if he’d consider to continue playing for Crispa, Harris said, “that depends, but first, we’ve got to talk.”

 

            In his 29-game stint with Tanduay in 1977, Harris averaged 24 points a game, hauled down 282 rebounds, had 22 shot blocks, averaged 47.14% from the field and 66.67% from the free throw line.

 

            In this year’s second conference, he raised his average to 26.62 points per game, was 11^th in the list of rebound leaders with an average of 12.4 rebounds per game, seventh in the list of shot block leaders with 2.4 blocks per game and logged 32 minutes and 26 seconds per game in playing time.

 

            Because Tanduay didn’t make the round of four, Harris sat out the homestretch part of the second conference race. But this time around, he figures to be there and not only there, but at the forefront of Crispa’s vaunted bid to regain a PBA conference championship it last won in 1976.

Atoy Makes It but Many Ask: Was Fernandez Robbed? (Sports Weekly, 1979)

Sports Weekly Magazine

August 3-10, 1979

Vic Villafranca

 

 

Tradition ostensibly won over performance, myopia over 20-20 vision and last-minute backstage maneuvers over the weight of statistics when Crispa’s Fortunato (Atoy) Co came from behind to win the most valuable player race of the 1979 PBA All-Filipino over a heavily-favored Ramon Fernandez of Toyota and three other nominees for the bauble which carries with it a Php 50,000.00 cash prize.

 

            It was a black day for objectivity and fair play and the general reaction of the crowd at the Plaza presidential hall in Makati to the verdict ranged from total disbelief to total disgust.

 

            One of the judges in the panel of sportswriters, radio and TV men that rendered the pivotal decision in the contest, Ronnie Nathanielsz of GTV Channel 4, howled over what he described as “an obscene decision.”

 

            “I’m ashamed to be part of the group that was instrumental in carrying out what in my view was an obscene verdict and an unmitigated act of unfairness,” said a fuming Nathanielsz. “I wonder how those guys can sleep tonight or look at their faces in the mirror tomorrow morning.”

 

            Five feet away from where Ronnie ranted, Kitchie Benedicto of KBS, shook her head sadly.

 

            Beside her, TV director Bert de Leon asked, “what happened?”

 

            On the floor, a coach of a PBA ballclub which had tangled with Fernandez’s team in the last All-Filipino, put his arms around the poleaxed Fernandez and blurted, “Mon, you were robbed.”

 

            Rene Dalugdog, who represented the TV group in the media panel of judges, shook Fernandez’s hand and said he couldn’t understand what happened. “But I want you to know,” he told Fernandez, “that in my book, you should have been it, I voted for you and I voted in accordance with my conscience.”

 

 

 

            Announced by PBA Commissioner Leo Prieto, Co’s victory over Fernandez, Sonny Jaworski of Toyota, and two other Crispa players, Freddie Hubalde and Philip Cezar, drew only lukewarm applause from the crowd. There were hisses too, and some scattered boos.

 

            Asked what he thought of the crowd’s reaction, Jun Hizon, producer of the PBA games, said he felt “it smacked of indifference; no spontaneity whatsoever.”

 

            Hizon also observed that from what he observed of the winner’s actuations after he received the award, “It seems as if even Atoy himself Is not altogether happy over the way the whole thing turned out.”

 

            At the Vineyard pub, Rod Reyes, now of the National Media Production Center and formerly one of the country’s top sportswriters, said, “Nakakahiya.”

 

            Then also from Rod came the night’s oft-repeated question, “What happened?”

 

            Indeed, what happened?

 

            Going into the fourth and last phase of the four-tiered format of the race for MVP, Fernandez looked as if he had his first MVP all wrapped up with the way he outscored Co in statistical points garnered in the regular games of the last All-Filipino series and likewise in the All-Star games where both he and Co were participants.

 

            Fernandez finished ahead of Co with 2,856 statistical points against Co’s 2,726 in the All-Filipino. That SP total, which gave Fernandez 30 percent, was tops for this phase of the tilt. Co got 28.63 percent for his 2,726 points.

 

            As for their performances in the four game All-Star series, Fernandez was only second to Freddie Hubalde with his 381 statistical points against Hubalde’s 389, but Co fared worse. He finished fifth behind Hubalde, Arnulfo Tuadles of Toyota and Abet Guidaben of Crispa with his 302 SP’s.

 

            Overall, the statistical points earned by both Fernandez and Co showed the Toyota center 209 statistical points up on Co.

 

            Counting the 30 percent garnered by Fernandez in topping the popularity tilt put by the Don Cigarettes, Fernandez went to the awards dinner holding 69.79 percent of the whole cake, or a 4.43 percent lead over Co who had 65.36 percent.

 

            On the basis of all this, it would seem as if all that Fernandez needed to win was some kind of a reconfirmation by the media panel of judges of what the figures proclaimed.

 

            He never got it.

 

 

 

            Out of the 14 sportswriters and a representative each from radio and TV who cast their ballots for MVP, Fernandez only got 4 votes, while Co ran off with 9. There was one abstention.

 

            With his surprising win in the sportswriters’ ballot, Co finished with 95.36 percentage points against Fernandez’s 83.12%.

 

            It was a stunning, unbelievable reversal, a breakaway from a probable outcome of the race when gleaned in the light of statistics. “Incredible,” said one league statistician, expressing shock over the way the vote of the media panel went.

 

            Incredible it really seems to be, and it’s just too bad that because the media poll was by secret ballot, those who asked the pointed question – what happened? – will never get to know how Fernandez lost in the polling booth in what he appeared to have worked so hard to win on the hardcourt.

 

            Aside from Co, the other winners of silver cups and cash prizes for outstanding performances in the last All-Filipino were:

 

            Arnulfo Tuadles of Toyota – rookie of the year

            Abe King – most improved player of the year

            Tito Varela – most sportsmanlike player

            Crispa Coach Baby Dalupan – coach of the year

           

            Winners of slots in the league’s mythical selection were Fernandez, Co, Jaworski, Hubalde and Tuadles.

 

            Tuadles won out over Ronnie Albor of Honda, Bing del Rosario of Gilbey’s Gin, Ely Capacio of Tanduay, and Fritz Gaston of U/Tex, while King was chosen over a cast of nominees that included Rudy Lalota of Royal, Willie Tanduyan of Gilbey’s, Tito Varela of Crispa and Oscar Rocha of Honda.

 

            Varela got the nod over Tony Torrente of Royal, Larry Mumar of Filmanbank, Jesse Sullano of Honda and Mike Bilbao of Tanduay for the most sportsmanlike player plum.

 

            Dalupan had as his contenders the coaches of the eight other ballclubs in the league.

 

            In winning the 1979 MVP award, Co, who led the league in scoring and was credited as the first man in the PBA to score 5,000 points, approximated a feat he scored in 1976 when he was named pro basketball player of the year in the All-Filipino sports awards sponsored by Seven-Up.

 

But unlike ’76 when he made top pro honors without a breath of dissent from anyone, it was different this time around. For as Co will no doubt find out in the days to come, aside from winning the Wimbledon-style silver cup and a Php 50,000.00 paycheck, he also – through no fault of his own – lit the fires of another controversy in an already controversy-ridden PBA season.

A Lot of Offers, but Will Bogs Bite? (Sports Weekly, 1979)

Sports Weekly Magazine

January 5-12, 1979

 

 

Sports for 1978 should have been a momentous one for William (Bogs) Adornado because that was the year when he finally made it back to the hardcourt after a brush with a torn ligament that all but spilled the end of his career. But Adornado, now 26, doesn’t feel that way at all about it.

 

“Sure,” he told Sports Weekly magazine, “I have every reason to be happy about ’78 because it is the first year of my comeback, but sad to say, things didn’t work out the way I had expected they would be.”

 

By this, he explained, he meant that as much as he wanted to come back with a bang and regain his old place of prominence on the Crispa lineup, he was only able to gain so much mileage in his bid to prove to himself and his fans that the Bogs of old is really back.

 

He then recalled how at the start of last year’s All-Filipino, the kick-off tournament of the PBA’s 1978 season, he was ready and raring to assume his old role as one of the most dreaded hit men in the Crispa team; how physically and mentally, he was primed to show everyone that all is well again with him.

 

So, what happened?

 

“Well,” he said, “you saw what happened. Until the third conference where we played off with the U/Tex Wranglers for third place, I never got the game time exposure that I felt I needed and which, in my view, would have symbolized Coach’s (Dalupan’s) confidence in my ability to play as well as I did in the past.”

 

He was quick to add, though that “he hasn’t got anything” against Coach Dalupan, nor was he questioning Dalupan’s decision to use him sparingly in the first and second conferences and all the way up to the first two games of the third conferences’ qualifying rounds.

 

“Maybe he thought I really was not prepared to play as hard and as long as I used to,” he said. “Maybe he thought that I shouldn’t be rushed on the road in my comeback.”

 

Still, Adornado feels that if only he had been exposed more, if he had been given more playing time, he would have been able to prove that the injury which sidelined him for almost three years is now a thing of the past.

 

He said that from the time he made his way back to the hardcourt after the long layoff during which he underwent surgery at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Hospital and then therapy, he could feel it in his bones that all he needed were the breaks to make his comeback momentous. But he never got such breaks.

 

Bogs then recalled several games of Crispa, including the exhibition series where Crispa played the rest of the PBA stars, where after waxing hot with his shots, he would suddenly find himself being lifted.

 

 

 

“Again,” he said, “I’m not questioning the reasons of Coach for pulling me out even when I’m hot, but then you can just imagine how things like these are liable to shake up a man’s composure.”

 

(Of one game which Adornado cited, Sports Weekly columnist Vic Villafranca recalled the Cebu game of the Crispa-All Stars series last summer where Adornado, after hitting five for five from the field, was pulled out by Coach Dalupan).

 

(Asked why he did this, Dalupan said that although Bogs went great guns in the offense, he was a liability in the defense. By this, Baby inferred that although Bogs really was popping them in from his favorite angles, he was a drag on the team in so far as defense was concerned).

 

A review of the road taken by Bogs on his comeback trail showed him scoring 10 points in the first game in PBA ’78 as Crispa bowed to U/Tex in the All-Filipino and then going on from there to score his first 20-pointer of the season as Crispa scuttled Honda in the second round of the series’ elimination round.

 

Other than that 20-point explosion, however, Adornado struggled all throughout the All-Filipino.

 

            It was pretty much the same thing in the second conference, where Crispa lost out to U/Tex in the best of five title playoffs.

 

In the third conference where he was used often obviously as a consequence of Atoy Co’s being sidelined after the third game of the eliminations, Adornado exploded with 25 points in the first game of the Crispa-U/Tex third place playoffs, had 16 points in the second and another 16-pointer in the third match.

 

That performance, says Adornado, shows that he has come around full circle and that all it needs is to make him stay longer in the game. But he doubts whether he’ll get this. “Alam mo naman, pagbalik na ng mga stars naming, banko na naman tayo,” he said.

 

Apparently, Bogs is not at all happy with the way things worked out for him in his first comeback year, and that largely on account of this, he may be prompted to switch to another ballclub which would find a better use for his services.

 

Is he really thinking of splitting from Crispa?

 

            “Maraming offer,” he said, “marami, but I haven’t made up my mind.”

The Surprising Mr. Mann (Sports Weekly, 1976)

Sports Weekly Magazine

December 31, 1976-January 7, 1977

Alice Lopez Lim

 

 

Early in the PBA series, the performance of Cyrus Mann for the Crispa Denims left much to be desired.

 

            The crowd wasn’t pleased at all by his rather lackluster showing.

 

            There were acid comments: “Is that the powerful Brazil Palmeiras player who wowed the audience during their stint here?” “Yun ba ang ilalaban kay “Snake” Jones? Mukhang lampa, eh…”

 

            For during the first games, Cyrus Mann was a far, far cry from the Cyrus Mann who, in the last five games (the best of five) in the third conference, blocked shots, plucked rebounds so easily, measured “Snake” Jones for size and emerged superbly victorious most of the time; gave valuable assists to his teammates, and all in all, performed so remarkably well that he disconcerted and surprised and amazed even some of those who were rather cynical of what he could do for the quintet.

 

            But Cyrus Mann at the outset was bedeviled by a few problems. He even played once right after arriving from the airport and he looked miserable and woefully unfit for pro ball games by vomiting and throwing out right on the floor that Coach Baby Dalupan had to replace him right away.

 

            But the ensuing games were different: Mann became more conscious of his performance for the Crispa Denims. 

 

 

 

            Articles and news reports twitted him then: his lackluster, lackadaisical attitude inside the hard court was roundly criticized.

 

            And soon, like a dutiful ballplayer, Cyrus Mann toed the line – and he wasn’t acting like any prima donna trying to show the rest that he was an “import” and that, perhaps, he is entitled to some special treatment.

 

            For it was even reported that Baby Dalupan minced no words in calling him down now and then. And proof that the coach and the manager, Danny Floro, wield authoritative hands over their team was the seeming metamorphosis that characterized Cyrus Mann’s blending with the team.

 

            And before long, Cyrus was just “one of the boys,” – no one special. Just like any other player of the Crispa quintet: like Atoy Co, Freddie Hubalde, Rey Pages, Tito Varela, Philip Cezar, others.

 

And during practice games, Mann went through the whole runtime, doing what he was told by the coach, following instructions.

 

            Doubtless, the “blending” with the team came in most appropriately during the crucial moments when his help was needed vitally.

 

            For during the last five games, Mann was a “towering pillar of power” right at center; there he provided the right kind of defense – easily blocking sure shots (of course, there would be those goaltending violations), preventing the opponent from making those easy layups, for he was there, a gangling, but still powerful pillar of defense; and he excelled in assists, snatching those rebounds (whether in the offensive or defensive rebounds) and subsequently passing to a teammate.

 

            At times, he threw a wild pass or a too-strong pass – which his confrere couldn’t retrieve. And there would be a turnover of the leather.

 

            But on the whole, Mann’s reassuring performance won for him the admiration and camaraderie of his teammates. Even during those tensed, tension-filled last minutes, Mann would be there, doing his thing, providing Crispa it’s undeniable sock.

 

            And after the hard-won trophy was given to the squad, the jubilant but perspiring Mann did a jig with his wife, Cotrie Mann, while the television cameras of NMPC GTV-4 focused on the overall scene of excitement and jubilation.

 

            Later, at the dressing room, Cyrus Mann was heard to have said, “I would rather play for Crispa than for an NBA team…”

 

            Whether the remark was uttered impulsively in the fevered heat of just winning a championship, one couldn’t right away ascertain. Suffice it to say that Mann, wiping his perspiration and answering questions from the reporters, showed that like the rest of his teammates, his heart was really there – in winning and copping that prized trophy for his quintet.

 

            There’s little doubt where his heart belongs: it belonged to Crispa at that right and precise moment. He was one of the boys, whooping it up, visibly excited and elated over the triumph manifesting his interest and affinity for the team which beat its arch rival, Toyota, in grand slam fashion.

 

            And later, at the victory party held at the “Anong Balita” coffee shop of the Makati Hotel, Mann was there, as jubilant and excited as the rest. Enjoying the drinks and the food.

 

 

 

            At a table with Cotrie, his wife, were Bill Bunton and the latter’s wife, Linda. And there was even a time when the good-looking April S. Cezar, Philip’s better-half, requested Mann to pose with her. And with wholesome good nature, Mann readily acquiesced, posing with April for a photograph with everybody cheering them.

 

            Yes, he was going home for Christmas, he told this writer. He’d go to Detroit, spend Christmas probably with his own family, his parents, his brothers and sisters, his kin.

 

            Would he come back to the Philippines, one wishes to know. Yes, in all probability, he’d come back. And no one would probably be happier than Danny Floro, Baby Dalupan and the rest of the bunch.

 

            Let’s take a look at some statistics during the best-of-five and see how Cyrus Mann fared.

 

            In five games, he played a total time of 158.35. His field goal attempts totaled 78. He converted 41 of those field goals for a 52.56 percentage.

 

            At the free throw line, he made 20 out of 30, for a 66.67%. He made 102 points in those five games, with an average of 20.4.

 

            In the rebounds department, Mann had 39 defensive rebounds as against 8 offensive rebounds.

 

            In the assist department, Mann completed 5 passing assists, with 4 passes not completed. He blocked 13 times, stole one, and had one deflection for his team. He provided screens all for 5 times, chalked up 3 in loose ball recoveries for a total of 32. He committed 23 errors, however, and also made 10 fouls.

 

            In the earlier round of five, Mann topscored for his quintet. He had a “hot hand” then, as compared to the others. In the best of five, it was Atoy Co (who should get the MVP award if they apt to give it this year) who topscored for a whopping 159 points. That is, Co converted 65 out of 13 field goal attempted and at the free throw line, Co was unbeatable with his conversion of 29 out of 36 for an 80.55%.

 

            But going back to Mann, his presence at the center post was undoubtedly a big contributing factor to Crispa’s continuous momentum towards the championship. The other players no doubt were daunted, “for his presence, there was of course, intimidating force.” Fact is, the sure shots of the others from the opponent’s side seemed easily deflected or went haywire because of Mann’s manning at the pivot post.

 

            Mann has enjoyed his brief stay in the Philippines, it was obvious. He has made friends, Cotrie, his wife, admires Atoy Co- “he’s such a good player.”

 

            Mann, whose other brother, Allen (or is it Alan???) is just so tall and is already showing skill as a ballplayer, has a terrific sense of humor. He jokes and kids around with friends.

 

            He loves swimming aside of course from playing ball. He is easy to talk with: he’s not at all standoffish or one who’s difficult to converse with. He shows his appreciation of what is written about him by simply asking where the article would be coming out. Doubtless, Danny Floro will sign him back again next year – when the PBA season commences with the imports gracing varied quintets.

 

            “Okay ‘yang taong ‘yan….,” a Crispa player says.

 

            When he dribbles, he looks loose-limbed, as if it’s easy to thwart him. But make no mistake of trying to steal the ball from him: he’d easily stash away the leather from the opponent’s reach and pass it off to someone. And when he jumps to snatch away those rebounds from the rest, his long arms enfolding the spheroid, he seems to do it with deceptive ease. But he occasionally throws wild passes; too strong for his colleagues and too high for some of them.

 

            Will he join the Boston Celtics (of which he was a draftee, it was earlier reported) when he goes back?

 

            Maybe yes. Maybe not. But whatever happens in the near future, Cyrus Mann will certainly fit in on whatever plans the Crispa management has for him. And from the looks of it, the genial manager is only too willing to dangle anew the contract for this “towering and lanky pillar” who contributed immensely to the victorious end of a too long protracted league.

 

            Meanwhile, Mann’s “image” – rather tarnished by none too complementary reports about him, is now that of an “adored hero” by the countless fans of the Crispa Denims, indubitably, “the best team in the PBA” and second to none.