The Big J Strikes Gold (Sports Weekly, 1996)

Sports Weekly Magazine

March 8-15, 1996

Manager's Choice, Orly Castelo

 

 

Robert Jaworski celebrates his 50^th birthday today. And as the “Big J” observes his “golden birth anniversary,” this writer could not help but reminisce on the good old days when this writer had the privilege to also work and play with this guy – which is a good three decades ago.

 

Sonny, as he was then called by his friends, was noticed early on as a possible good basketball player by no less than Baby Dalupan himself. Jaworski was brought by one Amado Recio to Dalupan and the great coach was immediately impressed by – of all things – the size of shoes of Sonny. This was already “size 12” while Jaworski was still in his early teens. And so, this was how he got into the University of the East Red Warriors mentored by Dalupan.

 

When Sonny came to YCO and became a teammate of this writer, it proved to be very hard finding a size 12 shoes in Clark of Subic at that time. Imagine the difficulty we had to endure just to look for that rare size of a shoe.

 

Sonny did prove to be really something then as a player of YCO in the old Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA). As I have mentioned earlier also in this column, Sonny provoked a free-for-all in Sangley Point, Cavite when one of the American players we were playing with then in an exhibition match, did not like the barreling drives of Sonny. This was, probably, the beginning of more fame and controversies.

 

One of these controversies was that infamous incident in the MICAA where Sonny and Big Boy Reynoso allegedly boxed and kicked Jose Obias, the referee. Sonny and Reynoso were teammates on the Meralco Reddy Kilowatt team at that time and this resulted to the lifetime ban on the two famous cagers. Fortunately, however, due to the pressure of some groups, including the clamor from the fans of Jaworski, the lifetime ban was lifted.

 

Sonny has won almost every award there is in the country today. His achievements are all well-known, including records in the Philippine Basketball Association and so on. All these prove that Sonny has gone a long way – from the humble Pandacan boy of yesteryears to what he is today.

 

This writer will never forget the first car of Sonny – a second-hand blue Rambler – which he loved so much. This was of the 1962 or 1963 model which he drove to Elizalde International where he also worked as a Sales Supervisor. You bet Sonny won’t settle for a second-hand car anymore now, what with his money and major accomplishments.

 

During his birthday then, we would eat at a turo-turo at Pasong Tamo to celebrate his birthday, as well as this writer’s birthday as this also falls on March. Sonny would prod this writer that since we had the same month of birth, we should celebrate together at a turo-turo in Pasay o Makati for good. How we enjoyed those days then. I wonder though if Jaworski would still celebrate his natal day. For sure, this year’s celebration would be something – in consonance to the many achievements of this famous celebrity of Philippine basketball.

 

You have really to give Sonny what is due him. Needless to say, the reason why he has been playing basketball up to this day is that he is also the coach of the team, but he always gives his best in the hardcourt. But for the good of his team, this writer believes that it is about time for Sonny to hang his jersey and give his younger boys the chance to also prove their mettle on the court. This will pave the way for Sonny to just concentrate on his coaching job for good.

 

As a friend, Sonny indeed is something else. I still remember how he tried to help another budding player with YCO then in 1966. Joseph Wilson, now with the San Francisco Fire Department as a fireman, was able to play with us in YCO, thanks to Jaworski. Sonny proposed a package deal with the Elizalde management that he will play with YCO but with Wilson in tow. It worked. Well, Wilson did also prove his worth in the team, and Sonny was probably pleased no end with this development.

 

In coming up with his string of achievements, Sonny is known for his hard work and dedication as a player. He is a vegetarian, a yoga practitioner then and shuns fatty foods, softdrinks and no more hard drinks. This probably did wonders to this guy as he continues to stay trim and lean through all these years.

 

What has been noticed and still is noticed today is the penchant of Jaworski to play a hard, physical game in the hardcourt. As we have experienced at Sangley Point then, he has been the center of controversies in the hardcourt because of these rough plays. But Jaworski could be forgiven for this, for the sake of sportsmanship. After all, he just wants to win a game, just like anyone of us. But it would be more welcome if Sonny would now tone down his play to avoid harm in the hardcourt. He has to contain his emotions and maintain a cool head to keep things going.

 

At the rate his team is going in the current PBA conference, Jaworski could still salvage some decent finish. But he has to really exert ore efforts to develop the talents and skills of his team through teammanship. His tall players, with the addition of Marlou Aquino, could prove awesome. This writer expects miracles to happen in that squad.

 

 

 

Speaking of birthdays, this writer will be 56 observing a reunion with his teammates at the San Miguel Beer team then in the MICAA on Friday, March 22. This is in celebration of the birthday of this writer and he is calling all his former teammates then at San Miguel Beer to come to the RGC Building, Mt. Apo Street, Mandaluyong City. This will be a reunion of all the players and staff of this former San Miguel team, 1970 National Open champion.

 

This writer is inviting, through this column, the following San Miguel Beer players he played with then: Manny Paner, Estoy Estrada, Yoyong Martirez, Dave Regullano, Ernie Morales, Willie Velasco, Molet Pineda, Rolly Marcelo, Nonong Belmonte, Worly Cuevas, Sito Tolentino, Dave REdaja, Alejandrito Miego and, of course, the “Franchise,” Ramon Fernandez.

 

The former staff of the San Miguel team then are also invited, including Ronnie, Tisoy, Paquito Rivera, Percie Baron, and others.

 

The San Miguel team then was coached by no less than Ning Ramos, a former national team coach. And so, all the players and staff of the former SMB team in the MICAA are invited to attend the celebration which will be held in this writer’s building in Mandaluyong City.

 

Still on the Jaworski stuff, “Pare ko, habaan mo ang pants mo at iklian mo ang medyas mo – “Happy Birthday, Sonny!”

 

***

 

That was a neat job for Luisito Espinosa in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Filipinos are really very proud of his feat. The defense of his WBC crown done in the hometown of his opponent was really scary for Louie. A lot of people have given him up for lost for acceding to defend his title in the city where the partisan crowd and most likely also, biased officials would be something to topple him down. But Luisito did hold his head high and we Filipinos can only shout to him – MABUHAY!

 

***

 

Ato Badolato again achieved another feat in his coaching career by piloting the San Beda Red Cubs to the National Inter-Secondary Basketball Championships in Cebu City. Congratulations Ato and the Red Cubs for another feather in the cap.

 

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.

Big Year for Big J: Sonny Jaworski, Mr. Basketball '78 (Sports Weekly, 1978)

Sports Weekly Magazine

December 29, 1978 to January 05, 1979 issue

 

 

Like his friend and coach, Dante Silverio, Toyota’s Sonny Jaworski says he “can’t ask for more” with what he got out of sports year, ’89.

 

“It has been a memorable year,” he said, as he savored, along with the other members of the Toyota ballclub, the heady brew of the Tamaraws’ success In the PBA season that just came to close with Toyota as the league’s only two-time champion team for 1978.

 

But while his teammates actually partook of the bubbly that flowed at the Toyota party as if tomorrow Moet et Chandon would be going out of style, the man whom just about every basketball expert believes was the one who provided Toyota with the direction that enabled the Tams to hold sway in the All-Filipino and third conferences of the local pro league, settled for a glass of soda pop.

 

He also didn’t hang on till the wee hours, saying as he bade goodbye to everyone, that he had an early day tomorrow.

 

But the season is over, someone said.

 

To which Sonny said, smiling: “To a pro, a season is never over.”

 

True, and never truer than in the case of a pro’s pro like Jaworski, who credits his consistently heads-up performance in the ’78 PBA season which earned for him the coveted MVP award for the All-Filipino and later in the year, his selection as “Mr. Basketball” to an “almost religious devotion to physical fitness.”

 

Jaworski recalled that in preparation for his role as quarterback of the Tams in their ’78 campaign, he went into a physical conditioning that began not too long after last year’s Christmas holidays and went on the whole season.

 

The program, he said, consisted of a regular session with weights as well as exercises designed to strengthen the muscles used in the game of basketball and aimed at beefing up the stamina.

 

“The whole thing, he said, “was not by any means easy because, well we are not as young as we used to be, but the results, I’m happy to say, have been most gratifying.”

 

By “gratifying,” Jaworski, now 32 and as lean and strong as when he first set out on the road to basketball superstardom, obviously meant the way he made it as an almost hands-down-choice as the most valuable player of the All-Filipino long before the tournament ended with his team as champion.

 

“Sustained brilliance” was the phrase used to describe Jaworski’s performance in the first conference and the statistics bore out the hosannas heaped on the Jaworski game.

 

 

 

The figures showed Jaworski led the league in assists, was Toyota’s top man in the battle for the rebounds and game-rally came up with the drive and the clutch hits in the key games that the Tamaraws won on their way to the All-Filipino title, Toyota’s second since the 1977 third conference.

 

In the third conference, which the Tamaraws won on a tough 3-1 decision over the gritty Tanduay Esquires in the best of five pennant playoffs, Jaworski, along with Toyota import, Carl Terry, were the touchstones of the Tamaraws’ devastating running game.

 

He was also the Tamaraws’ second big man in the offense, averaging 14 points per game in the elimination round which Toyota swept. In the playoffs, Jaworski averaged 17.17 per game, his highest output the 19-point effort that he pulled off as Toyota won the go-ahead third game against the Esquires.

 

In the fourth game of the playoffs, Jaworski shared centerstage with the flamboyant Carl Terry where he teamed up beautifully with the much assists department to set up the plays that enabled the Tamaraws to lead by as much as 23 points and eventually win by a walk.

 

Ramon Fernandez was the Tamaraw whose performance approximated Jaworski’s in the third conference, but a lean four-point output by Fernandez in game 2 of the playoffs made the superb Toyota slotman a second choice as team MVP for the series.

 

Other than the way he stood heads and shoulders over the Filipinos who saw action in PBA ’78, another thing which made Jaworski the biggest name in pro basketball in the year about to close was hi being tapped for a series of promotional campaigns by industrial firms dealing in computer items.

 

Jaworski did a promo campaign for Cerveza Negra, Tender Leaf tea and Toyota, and towards the end of the year, he was tapped for a TV talk show, entitled “Celebrity.”

 

Thus, as the man says, he really cannot ask for more with the way things turned out for him in ’78. The only thing that bugs him is what he’ll have to do by way of an encore in ’79.

The Night Toyota Made It 2 for '78 (Sports Weekly, 1978)

Sports Weekly Magazine

December 29, 1978 to January 05, 1979 issue

Peter N. Acosta

 

 

(Editor’s note: This game took place two days after Sports Weekly Magazine went to press last week for its Christmas week issue. Thus, our inability ot feature it – despite its significance – as our Game of the Week the last time around.)

 

The banner, the only one, first flustered in the stands when Toyota’s Big 3 – Francis Arnaiz, Ramon Fernandez and Sonny Jaworski – strung up an eight-point cluster to give the Tamaraws an 8-0 lead two minutes after the first quarter began.

 

But other than that solitary flag, there was nothing in the Toyota camp’s posture in game 4 of the best of five playoffs for the PBA’s third and last conference title of the year that would indicate that the Tamaraws’ fans felt this was “it”: the night when the Tams would finally make it back to the top of the conference they ruled last year.

 

As Toyota’s pinch-hitting coach, Fort Acuña, himself said: “Sure, we’re up, 2-1, but in a series like this, nothing is sure until the final whistle had blown and the scoreboard shows we’ve got it made.”

 

Old friends of Toyota who had earlier called the office of Toyota coach on vacation Dante Silverio to inquire where the victory party will be held were advised: “No plans yet. Anyway, it’s easy to stage a bash once we’re there.”

 

Toyota’s feeling of uncertainty despite its having won two games of the best of five playoffs to move a win away from the title figured.

 

For although the Tams won game 3 by 10 points after dropping the second game to the tough Tanduay Esquires, it was by no means a look-me-no-hands triumph.

 

Tough as nails since they came out swinging in their first-ever fling in a PBA title showdown, the Esquires had made the Tams work hard for the two wins posted by Toyota and now with their backs against the wall, they were expected to make it doubly tougher for Toyota.

 

But right off, when they got caught with their pistols in their pockets by an all-out Toyota barrage that sent them down by 8-0 after two minutes in the first quarter and then by 15 points, 30 to 15 at the end of the period, the Esquires were on the ropes.

 

 

 

Their problem was further compounded by the awful plight of their key import, Gene Moore, who, although he managed to play in game 4, just wasn’t his old aggressive self in both the defense and the battles for the rebound as a result of his still sprained right ankle.

 

With Moore in such dire straits, Carlos (Primero) Terry had a ball for the whole night, pumping in a game-high 36 points, hauling down 15 rebounds, making one assist, three blocks and two steals to lead the Tams to a 108-98 triumph.

 

For his part, Terry’s partner, second year Toyota import Bruce (Sky) King was equally as devastating against Tanduay’s David Payne as he came up with 19 rebounds to dramatize Toyota’s control of the boards and the match.

 

Despite the margin of their victory, however, the Tams felt the pressure all the way.

 

More so when in the final quarter, the Esquires inched to within 10 points off Toyota’s lead four times and then once to eight points before Terry, Jaworski and Bruce King put the game on ice with a 6-2 blast that sent the Tams beyond recall, 106-94, with the time down to 1:46.

 

Another twinner by Terry on a slam dunk against a pair of hits by Payne and the Tams had got it – the fourth game win that wrapped up Toyota’s fifth championship in a four-year PBA campaign, the second for the Tams in the 1978 season.

With the game and the title in the bag, the Tamaraw camp finally whooped it up, letting go of a cloudburst of confetti with only a minute left in the game.

 

The Toyota victory bash, however, was not held until two nights later.

 

The win elated Dante Silverio, who said it proved that the Tams could be competitive “so long as they give their best.” Adding that he prepared the team for a grand slam year in ’78, Dante said that although Toyota didn’t make its goal, he couldn’t ask for more.

 

Along with rookie Coach Acuña, Silverio got the traditional victory ride from his jubilant players.

Toyota's Giant-Killing Binge: First Canada, Then Yugoslavia (Sports Weekly, 1978)

Sports Weekly Magazine

September 29, 1978

On the Line, Vic Villafranca

 

                                        

 

As if they didn’t have enough problems trying to catch the now-crowded last bus in the semifinal round of the PBA’s second conference, Toyota’s Tamaraws found themselves walking the gangplank against the Canadian and Yugoslavian national teams in non-PBA games at the Araneta Coliseum.

 

The matches were meant to be tune-ups for the Canadians and Yugoslavians who are playing in the world amateur basketball championships scheduled to start next week. But for the Tamaraws who didn’t have anything to gain from the whole exercise, it seemed like an unnecessary distraction in their bid to pump themselves up physically and mentally for their pivotal games in the south against Royal Tru Orange and Tanduay.
 

 

But having committed themselves to play, the Tamaraws really didn’t have a choice but to go through the motions of playing unwilling sacrificial lambs.

 

“What,” says an old-time PBA watcher, “if one of Dante’s imports got bumped pretty bad? Or what if Jaworski lands on his back again, won’t that spoil the chances of Toyota against Royal and Tanduay?

 

The inference is that if at all, the Tamaraws won’t really play hard against both foreign teams, just enough to make the folks in the bleachers go home with the tale that they saw a ballgame and not a ballet, an honest-to-goodness hardcourt encounter, and not a fencing exhibition. Surprisingly, things didn’t turn out that way.

 

Playing as if they were playing for all the marbles in the world and not merely to make BAP President Lito Puyat feel good on a weekend, the Tamaraws went hammer and thongs, helter and skelter, full system and all systems go against their taller and heavier opponents to give just about everyone in the crowded Big Dome an excuse to go home with a bad case of sore throat.

 

When, after being down by 10 points at the half which closed at 36-46 in favor of the Canadians, the Tamaraws stormed their way to a 82-all tie with a little over four minutes left in the ballgame and then went on from there to unload clutch hits. It was as if New Year had come ahead of schedule.

 

The whole coliseum flew into a tizzy, national pride ran rampant in the jampacked stands, and while it was true Toyota Coach Dante Silverio never got to be kissed on both cheeks by the enthused fans, he got an ovation that ought to make up for all the gloom that has been his lot since the start of the PBA second conference.

 

“Beautiful, just beautiful,” said a sportscaster, carried away by it all. Later, at the players’ locker room, the Tamaraws’ two American imports, Bruce King and Carl Terry, as well as Jaworski and Arnaiz, were hard-pressed beating off fans who wanted to pump their shooting hands black and blue.

 

It was Terry who gave the Tamaraws the lead with 14 seconds left and then Jaworski iced the whole thing when he drew a foul after intercepting a throw-in by the Canadian side. Sonny knocked in both of his free throws for the eventual 92-88 Toyota victory.

 

Coming as it did an hour after the Czechoslovakian team all but waltzed its way to a 105-70 win over a Philippine team and before second-ranked Yugoslavia walloped Crispa, 108-92, the coup pulled off by Toyota made up for both dampers, the rout of the Philippine team especially.

 

Two nights later, Toyota stunned Yugoslavia by five, 118-113.

 

 

 

It was, as the Express’ Ernie Gonzales wrote, “a big blow for the Philippine Basketball Association.”

 

Pinched for space, Ernie never got to expand what in his view was the significance of the victory, but was obvious that he meant to point out that if the BAP had consented to the inclusion of top local pros in the national team, we ought to be able to come up with a showing that won’t make the local bleacher crowd feel like walking out sore and sullen in the rain. We probably won’t win all our games but at least, it will give the hometown folks something to cheer about, something to make everybody feel that it isn’t a flock of sheep that we sent to the world basketball arena but a gaggle of lions.

 

Of course, it’s too late now to do anything. But, gosh, can you just imagine how things might have been if we had Jaworski and company in the national lineup? It probably won’t mean that we’ll knock the favored entries in the world basketball series bowlegged, but one thing we ought to get farther than the slaughterhouse.

 

The PBA hardcourt show goes on the road this week with the semifinal hopes of two of the four teams billed in out-of-town games hanging in the balance in the league’s southern swing.

 

The two are Toyota and Royal Tru Orange who are scheduled to clash in Iloilo and the go separate ways – Toyota via the slow boat to Bacolod to play Tanduay and Royal to Cebu to take on the Crispa Redmanizers.

 

The key game in the series is the Toyota-Royal matchup. Up with identical 7-5 won-loss cards, the Orangemen and the Tamaraws need at least a split to earn at least a tie for a round of four berth. Thus, whoever wins in Iloilo will have a jump on the other. The Iloilo loser, on the one hand, could be in real trouble because it will only be a setback away from outright elimination from the semifinal race.

 

It seems farfetched, but there could be a change in the semifinal picture and most likely a playoff if Tanduay and Crispa, who are tied with eight wins each, are to bomb out twice in their Southern schedules. Crispa, particularly, will be in a bind because while Tanduay has an 8-3 slate, Crispa is 8-4.

 

At any rate, despite the exhibition series of some of the teams playing entered in the world cagefest in the South, the games to watch will be the PBA matches in Iloilo, Bacolod and Cebu.

 

NOBODY ASKED ME, BUT….

 

With the opening of the world basketball tournament next week, the spotlight moves away completely from that other international tournament being held in the Philippines – the long-drawn, now boring world chess championship series between Anatoly Karpov and Victor Korchnoi…I never realized how much laughts I’ve missed until I watched the telecast of the NBA games and compared it to the Arcilla-Eduque show on Channel 4…More and more, it’s beginning to look as if it’s curtains for Danny Florencio and his pro basketball career…Just once, I’d like to hear TV basketball analyst Tito Eduque say “bad call” everytime one of the PBA refs makes a really bad call.

 

JPM Notes:

 

1.     A riveting and vivid memory of the Toyota-Canada game happened in the first few seconds of the game when, right after tip-off, Jaworski made a barreling drive against Tom Bishop which startled the Canadian. It was the Big J’s strong message that he will not be bullied by the stronger, bigger Canadians.

 

2.    Canada was coached by Jack Donohue and had the likes of Bishop, Leo Rautins, Jay Triano and former Honda Hagibis import, Jim Zoet in the lineup. They eventually ended up 6^th overall in the 1978 FIBA World Championship.

 

3.    Yugoslavia won the 1978 FIBA Championship, three weeks after absorbing a stinging loss to the Toyota Tamaraws. It’s starting unit was perceived to be the best in the tournament – PG Zoran Slavnic, SG Dragan Kikanovic, SF Drazen Dalipagic, PF Mirza Delibasic and C Kresimir Cosic. Kikanovic, Dalipagic and Cosic made it to the All-Tournament First Team.