Crispa's Amazing 21 Straight Wins! (Champ, 1983)

Champ Magazine

July 14, 1983

Emilie & Joe Concepcion

 

 

The feat winning 21 consecutive games – is fantastic!

 

            It never happened before.

 

            Most likely, with the enforcement of player draft rules to strengthen the local lineups of lower-placed teams and the current handicapping system on the use of imports to “balance” the team, such a feat may never be recorded again.

 

            The feat is an all-time season record that went through two Conference record year from March 10 to June 19. Twelve victories were registered in the All-Filipino (First) Conference, and nine more in the current Reinforced (Second) Conference. It surpassed the 19 straight wins set also by Crispa from September 30 to December 9, 1980, which is established as the all-time Conference record.

 

            The feat saw the Redmanizers scoring a twenty-one game-total of 2,486 points against 2,272 made by their opponents. On a per game average, this is 118.38 against 108.19 points.

 

            The feat had Crispa scoring 37.27 percent (41/110) on three-point shots, 52.92 percent (968/1829) on two-point field goals, and 80.32 percent (506/630) on free throws.

 

            In the 21-game stretch, Crispa averaged 37 defensive, 16 offensive and 53 total rebounds, 28 assists, 5 steals, 7 shot blocks and 25 turnovers.

 

            Accomplishing the feat was certainly not easy. In three games, the Redmanizers managed to win by only a one-point margin. These were an 83-82 squeaker over Gilbey’s Gin in the first conference, and a 110-109 and 120-119 thrillers over Great Taste Discoverers in separate Conferences.

 

            Four games went through overtime periods, all in the second conference in five-game expense. The first was against San Miguel Beer, and after a regulation win over the Toyota Silver Coronas, three successive games went into five-minute extensions. These were against Tanduay Rhum, Galerie Dominique and Sunkist Juice Lovers, all. Three matches handled by assistant coach Narciso Bernardo.

 

            Combined, Bernardo won six games (three in each Conference) in the absence of regular coach, Tommy Manotoc, who won fifteen.

 

            More than anything else, it is the combination of the new management pair of Coach Manotoc and manager Ernesto Floro that molded the present team into a sharp, cohesive outfit that looks forward to a GRAND SLAM finish, and taking one game at a time, accomplish the 21 consecutive wins first.

 

 

 

THE PBA ALL-TIME WINNING STREAK RECORD

 

First Conference – All Filipino

 

No. 1: March 10, 1983 CRISPA 121, MANHATTAN 97

 

            Seven Redmanizers scored double figures led by Co with 33. Crispa also had 39 assists and 13 shot blocks.

 

No. 2: March 15, 1983 CRISPA 119, TANDUAY 112

 

            Crispa had 32 turnovers, Co 7 errors, but the Redmanizers rallied from 11 points down with Hubalde, Guidaben and Cristobal contributing heavily.

 

No. 3: March 20, 1983 CRISPA 114, SAN MIGUEL 90

 

            Crispa’s defense limited the Beermen to 55 points in the first three quarters which Villamin and Fabiosa had 8 assists each.

 

No. 4 March 24, 1983 CRISPA 123, GREAT TASTE 97

 

            Crispa converted 55 field goals against only 37 by Great Taste. Co passed out 10 assists.

 

No. 5 March 27, 1983 CRISPA 108, GALERIE DOMINIQUE 97

 

            Bernie Bernardo called the shots for Crispa. Guidaben stood out with 28 points and 17 rebounds.

 

No. 6 April 7, 1983 CRISPA 83, GILBEY’S 82

 

            Crispa played poorly but won in this Conference’s lowest scoring game as Generalao and Watson missed their last shots. Bernardo’s second win.

 

No. 7 April 12, 1983 CRISPA 109, TOYOTA 102

 

            Guidaben’s 32 points and 16 rebounds gave Bernardo his third win, as he proved himself against no less than Toyota.

 

No. 8 April 14, 1983 CRISPA 124, GILBEY’S 116

 

            Cezar stretched for 35 points as Manotoc resumed head coach duties in the semifinal round of this Conference.

 

No. 9 April 17, 1983 CRISPA 110, GREAT TASTE 109

 

            Esguerra came off the bench to score 15 points and Fabiosa got 7 steals to help Crispa win by one point.

 

No. 10 April 19, 1983 CRISPA 121, GILBEY’S 101

 

            This first game of the Best-of-Five championship series had Israel playing 37 minutes, typifying Crispa’s solid defense.

 

No. 11 April 21, 1983 CRISPA 119, GILBEY’S 116

 

            2^nd game – Best of Five. Gilbey’s Vargas had 22 points and 16 rebounds while Generalao scored 23 points and dished out 12 assists, but Crispa’s might and deep bench prevailed.

 

No. 12 April 24, 1983 CRISPA 115, GILBEY’S 84

 

            The dam broke on the gallant men of Honeyboy Palanca and Turing Valenzona. Crispa wrapped up the All-Filipino conference championship in style.

 

Second Conference – Reinforced Filipino

 

No. 13 May 15, 1983 CRISPA 120, GREAT TASTE 119

 

            Crispa import Billy Ray Bates made his PBA debut by scoring 64 points that included five 3-point shots and four slam dunks.

 

No. 14 May 19, 1983 CRISPA 135, GILBEY’S 123

 

            Gilbey’s veteran import Massey outscored Bates, 43-34, but seven local Redmanizers scored double figures to set a new PBA record by converting 72 percent on 54 out of 75 two-point shots.

 

No. 15 May 24, 1983 CRISPA 113, SAN MIGUEL 111, OT

 

            Crispa tied SMBeer at 101-all in regulation time and outscored the Beermen, 12-10, in the overtime period.

 

No. 16 May 29, 1983 CRISPA 122, TOYOTA 110

 

            Co did not suit up and Cezar scored only one point, but it did not matter. Guidaben had 23 points and 19 rebounds to add to Bates’ 51 points.

 

No. 17 June 2, 1983 CRISPA 129, TANDUAY 123 OT

 

            Bernardo drove the Redmanizers with the score at 111 all in regulation to win in overtime with Bates knocking down six three-point shots.

 

No. 18 June 7, 1983, CRISPA 115, GALERIE DOMINIQUE 112 OT

 

            Behind by four points with eleven seconds left, Crispa tied the score at 102-all and went on to win in the extension period as Ms. Nikki Coseteng lambasted the officiating. Bernardo mentored the Crispa bench.

 

No. 19 June 11, 1983 CRISPA 146, SUNKIST141 OT

 

            Benardo’s third straight overtime win (and Crispa’s fourth in five games as this out-of-town game played in Cabanatuan. Regulation ended at 130-all. Crispa posted by far the season’s highest score as defense was all but forgotten.

 

No. 20 June 14, 1983 CRISPA 127, TANDUAY 123

 

            Manotoc was back as Crispa rolled over Tanduay whose 47 fouls gave Crispa 47 trips to the free throw line when the Redmanizers coverted 33 to make up for their deficit in field goal conversion.

 

No. 21 June 19, 1983 CRISPA 113, GREAT TASTE 107

 

            Showdown in Cebu with a one and a half-hour blackout in the second quarter cooled off Great Taste’s usually good shooting. Bates again powered Crispa with 50 points and 21 rebounds that snapped the Discoverers’ own winning streak at seven games.

Which Two Will Fail? (Sports Weekly, 1976)

Sports Weekly Magazine

October 29-November 5, 1976

Bitoy Bonifacio

 

 

            “Our chances are great, the way the boys have been playing, “Toyota coach Dante Silverio said.

 

            “It will be tough, but we will try our best. I have a feeling we will make it,” offered U/Tex coach Narciso Bernardo.

 

            Ning Ramos of the late-coming Royals is just too happy they made it to the semis; and sees a certain hope of making it, because his men are known hardworkers.

 

            “Dadaan sa butas ng karayom. It will definitely be a tough series,” cautioned Crispa’s Baby Dalupan.

 

 

 

            Crispa, Toyota, U/Tex, Royal.

 

            All four are liable to fall.

 

            Uncertainty, the intriguing ingredient of fine sports contests, will be the theme of the just-opened PBA semis, and no one could be gladder than the fat man before the PBA cash registers.

 

            “Lahat, pwedeng masilat,” boomed heavyweight referee Igmidio Cahanding. “All games will be well-attended.”

 

            To make it to the finals, all four teams in the elite cast will have to give all they got, and even as self-styled experts feel that all the latest developments in the PBA front can’t prevent another Toyota-Crispa title clash, the men behind the contending teams are being doubly wary of the odds.

 

            Crispa, indeed, has the deepest bench, but it is still a big uncertainty how coach Dalupan’s crew would respond all throughout. Crispa plays worst when favored, but underdogs, it pours out all it got.

 

            “It can’t be always like this every night,” Dalupan assessed his team’s latest swamping of the Comets. “It so happened they (the Comets) played poorly tonight. But I told the boys to forget it and start thinking about the semifinals. Every game in the semifinals will count.”

 

            Dalupan was being properly cautious. It’s rare that you find the Comets playing like third-rates. In the no-bearing Toyota-Crispa game, which concluded the qualifying phase of the PBA Open, Silverio’s boys placed suspiciously too tame and bowed to the undermanned Denims who, because of reported team troubles and the sidelining of the injured Bogs Adornado, were tabbed as plus-five pre-game favorites.

 

It was yet the most disappointing point in the storied Crispa-Toyota rivalry. But despite Toyota’s deplorable performance, before another full-house crowd at Araneta, coach Silverio doesn’t foresee any trouble on the road to the finals.

 

            “They (Crispa) played excellently,” Silverio said. “But my boys were a little off tonight. I, however, expect them to be back to their old reliable form in the semis.”

 

            Silverio was not alone in his observation. Upcoming coach Narciso Bernardo of the U/Tex Wranglers ascribed Toyota’s humiliating setback against Crispa to the Comets’ below-par performance.

 

            “The last time Toyota beat us, they played perfect,” Bernardo explained. “But you see, they suddenly could not get going tonight. Something was wrong with them.”

 

            The inconsistency in both Crispa and Toyota’s games is what Bernardo hopes to exploit to strengthen his bid for a finals’ slot. Of course, Bernardo and the U/Tex management is happy enough that they made it to the semis, despite the troubles and the last-minute revision in their lineup.

 

 

 

            “I think we have the material to make it,” Bernardo said. “The boys always play hard. They (Toyota and Crispa) can’t be at their best every night. Malas lamang nila ‘pag natiyempuhan naming sila.”

 

            U/Tex, the surprise package of the league, had proven its worthiness in the qualifying series, having two-straighted Crispa and prevailed over Toytoa once. It is a wise Bernardo who, however, knows that it will be a totally different story in the semis. And to live up to the challenge, he has sort of devised new strategies.

 

            “We will be using them when the situation calls for it,” Bernardo promised.

 

            Use his new strategies, if they are really that worthy, Bernardo will have to. There are those who feel, particularly after their humiliating loss against Toyota, that the Wranglers have fumbled in their training program. It has been suspected that they have arrived at their peak form too soon.

 

            But Bernardo disagrees. His boys, he said, have been training to go not only fifteen rounds but as much as thirty.

 

            Staying power, however, will not be the deciding factor in the four-way race to the finals. Bernardo’s problems will be manifold.

 

            How to contain Crispa’s point-producing machine when it’s hot is indeed a terrible test. Then, add to this problem the problem of Mann, the re-emerging Crispa team pillar who has suddenly started playing with vengeance after he decided to stay put and work with his Filipino teammates.

 

            How to go through the famous Toyota blockade, particularly in crucial stages, is another puzzle Bernardo has to solve. Known physical players, the Comets are tested besiegers who had proven capable of reducing Crispa, the top offensive outfit in the land, to its ordinary level.

 

            Then, the Royals. Now that they have made it. There’s no going back for Ning Ramos’ charges who are also capable of sneaking in with a streak of murderous baskets at the slightest fault of their foes.

 

            All they had initially aimed for was the semis, but now that they are here, coach Bernardo and the emerging Wranglers will be greatly disappointed if they fail to make a mark, proceed to the Finals.

 

            Basketball devotees, from the barefoot newsboy to the pot-bellied Makati executive, believe it will be extremely hard for other contenders to prevent another Crispa-Toyota finals showdown.

 

            Another Crispa-Toyota ending to the PBA Open Conference?

 

            Only U/Tex has credentials to provide a new twist in the fast-tiring Crispa-Toyota story.

Dante's Knightmare (Sports World, 1976)

Sports World Magazine

August 28 – September 3, 1976

Tito Tagle

 

 

            Your adventurous SW reporter set out to cover Cabanatuan’s PBA game between Noritake and Royal Tru-Orange Saturday. Betwixt intent and accomplishment lay not only an egg but a trail of hardship. For I’ve never motored to Cabanatuan, and in this case, one plus one was three: I merely asked friends who’ve been there how the road was and the reply was excellent. Since whenever I went north beyond Pampanga, I always passed through a junction in San Fernando which, I had been told not just once, led to Arayat and on to Cabanatuan, I presumed that this was the excellent road spoken of.

 

            After an hour and 10 minutes of rugged terrain during which I got to the foot of Mount Arayat only to be told that the bridge toward Cabanatuan had gone down in the last typhoon (yet!), I finally exited at the San Fernando junction, motored back to the North Diversion road and took the correct way to Cabanatuan via Plaridel and Baliuag.

 

***

 

I finally made it to the Travel Lodge – where the PBA entourage roosted for the day – at around 6:15PM, or five hours since I started from Manila.

 

 

 

            Of course, none of my PBA friends believed me.

 

            Anyway, exciting as that Cabanatuan game was (Noritake won after an overtime, 139-133, while RTO’s Carl Bird reset the season’s individual game record with an output of 53), the PBA game of the week remained U/Tex’s triumph over Toyota Thursday last week.

 

            The score was 113-103, but it was only in the last three minutes when the issue was really decided.

 

***

 

            U/Tex coach Narciso Bernardo’s key move was the recall of Lee Haven from the scorer’s box where he waited to lift 6’10 Dan Knight, and the key play – ironically – was a miss by Knight from the charity lane which prevented Haven’s immediate entry.

 

 

 

            Knight had just tied the score at 97-all off Howard Smith’s fifth foul when he missed his second charity. Lim Eng Beng got the rebound and drilled in the takeover basket, 99-97.

 

***

 

            Byron (Snake) Jones, who (despite game’s outcome), certainly has the better moves and is speedier than the hulking Knight; for that matter, Smith is faster than Knight though foul-prone, subbed at the last three minutes point, and promptly missed a hook, Knight recovering. Rudolf Kutch drilled from the side for 101-97. Sonny Jaworski missed a jumper, Knight recovering. Lim Eng Beng banked one for 103-97.

 

            The game down to just 50 seconds, was far from over. Jones had charitied twice off Kutch’s sixth and final foul, and Dante Silverio had ordered the damning press that might have still turned the tide of battle. But Bernardo had one timeout left, and he used it to fashion out the final strategy to foil Toyota’s bid to reverse the impending outcome.

 

***

 

            Dante’s gamble was to two – or even three-man the ball carrier, and in the event of failure to recover, foul for possession. So, Odie Segura, Francis Arnaiz and Jaworski committed six fouls in those last 50 seconds of play.

 

 

 

            Unfortunately for Toyota, Lim Eng Beng was on the receiving end on four occasions, and the ex-Quasar star delivered twin charities each time to finalize the margin at 10 points.

 

***

 

            Victory for U/Tex would have been impossible, however without the brilliant Kutch, who routed Mon Fernandez in a beautiful display between two of the country’s best slotmen turned forwards. Kutch delivered 31 points, and almost half of these came when Toyota threatened to break away in the closing minutes of the third quarter and early in the fourth.

 

            Against Kutch’s 31 points, Fernandez could only make 10 – testimony to the defensive difficulties Mon ran into which greatly whittled his normal output.

 

***

 

            During intermission, NMPC’s Emy Arcilla took the mike and made an appeal for contributions for Mindanao’s earthquak victims. Dante Silverio made a pledge of Php 50,000 – Php 14,000 from the 14 Comets and Php 36,000 from management. Tommy Manotoc, U/Tex team manager, also pledged in behalf of his company Php 50,000. The some-20 girls who went around for contributions in the ringside, lower box and upper box sections, garnered Php 4,312.71. The bleacherites must have added a good sum to the take after the game, Emy told them the girls be waiting at the exits.

 

            It was the best move of the evening.

Princeton Survey: Webb, Jaworski Top Sports Poll (Sports World, 1973)

Sports World Magazine

March 17-23, 1973

 

There’s just no sidestepping the issue – the Philippines may be short on tall men, but it is just as long on basketball as it was since the country placed fifth behind the United States, Canada, Mexico and Poland in the Berlin Olympics of 1936.

 

Supreme in Asia until the sixties when Japan and South Korea started gracing the winner’s circle, and never again in the Big 8 of the Olympics except in Melbourne in 1956 when the Philippines wound up seventh, this nation’s sports-minded from 14 to 30 years of age nevertheless still opt for basketball as the national game.

 

This was gleaned in a recent poll conducted for the Sports Development Foundation of the Philippines by the National Sports Development Poll (Luzon Phase) – the Philippine Princeton Poll – which showed that 778 percent of those in the 14-30 age group in Luzon have basketball as their favorite spectator sport. Likewise, the sport leads as a favorite among sports participated in, with a goodly 47 percent.

 

It comes as no surprise therefore to see the names of 10 basketball players in the top 12, the only other sport represented therein being that of professional boxing.

 

Here is how the votes went for the cage luminaries:

 

FREDDIE WEBB. Yco guard. Topped in Manila (48%), Cabanatuan (40%), Rizal (34%). Average: 28.7%.

 

ROBERT JAWORSKI. Meralco forward/guard. Topped Ilocos Norte, together with Manual Paner of San Miguel Corporation (21%) was second in Manila (28%), Rizal (25%, together with Adriano Papa, Jr., erstwhile Crispa forward), Albay (29%). Average: 25.8%.

 

ADRIANO PAPA, JR. erstwhile Crispa forward. Shared second billing with Jaworski in Rizal. Average: 18.8%.

 

DANILO FLORENCIO, erstwhile Crispa forward. Surprisingly weak in Manila (4%), he scored highest in Rizal (20%), Cabanatuan and Lipa (16% each). Average: 11.8%.

 

WILLIAM ADORNADO.  Crispa forward. As expected, topped Albay (he is a Bicolano) with 31%, had his second-best percentage in Rizal (16%). Average: 9.2%.

 

MANUEL PANER. San Miguel Corporation center. Shared top billing in Ilocos Norte with Jaworski at 21%. Average: 7.8%.

 

ALBERTO REYNOSO. Meralco center. Average 6%.

 

JAIME MARIANO. Concepcion Industries center. Fourth favorite in Manila with 20%. Average: 5.8%.

 

LAWRENCE MUMAR. Universal Textiles guard. Scored his highest in Albay with 10%. Average: 4%.

 

NARCISO BERNARDO. Mariwasa forward. Average: 3.2%.

 

 

 

(The only non-active basketball player in the list was Carlos “The Great Difference” Loyzaga who retired in the early sixties and was coach of the Olympic basketball team to Mexico in 1968; he garnered the same percentage as did Bernardo.)

 

(Gabriel “Flash” Elorde placed fourth in the poll with an average of 14.3% topping Lipa with 34% and placing third – behind Webb and Jaworski – in Cabanatuan with 24%).

 

(The other non-basketball sports figure was Ben Villaflor, then junior lightweight champion of the world – he lost the crown to Kuniaki Shibata of Japan on March 13 – who averaged 5.2 percent, scoring his best in Cabanatuan at 16% and Lipa at 12%.)

 

Spodephil conducted the poll to determine “starting points” for a constructive youth and sports development program “that would help foster the ideals and goals of the New Society – such as national discipline, civic-mindedness, fair play and even community development.”