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all around him, his new teammates exulted on the way he had more than ably filled in for Mann, whose contract was rescinded by the Crispa management towards the end of the last PBA conference when it realized it could not get him – despite earnest efforts – to kick his old drug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

PBA '78: Something Old, Something New (Sports Weekly, 1978)

Sports Weekly Magazine

April 14-21, 1978

 

 

            The biggest news in this coming PBA All Filipino is Toyota’s acquisition of PBA’s celebrated number one forward, Danny Florencio. The former Seven-Up Uncola, in an earlier article, admitted his desire to be and to play with a champion ballclub.

 

            By champion ballclub, Florencio meant Toyota or Crispa or U/Tex or Tanduay. For one sure thing though, he cannot go back to U/Tex where he had a stormy stint, nor Crispa, where he was sacked in 1972. Nor with Tanduay which he left during the happier amateur days. So, it is Toyota straight. And there couldn’t be a better choice. Dante’s squad is in dire need of a first-rate forward who can match skill with Jaworski, Arnaiz and Fernandez. A forward who is seasoned, a veteran who can deliver the points if he wants to regardless of the situation.

 

            Jaworski and Florencio could there be a better combination?

 

            Toyota’s acquisition of Florencio will test anew the stiff rivalry of the Crispa and Toyota teams, and will gauge the duo’s drawing power at the box office.

 

            The fans who were denied of a dream contest between Toyota and Crispa last All-Filipino, where Baby Dalupan’s boys faced Mariwasa for the championship, might be in for another thriller, Crispa having bolstered its slot with returnee Philip Cezar and newcomer Jimmy Javier. Bogs Adornado and Rudy Soriano however are still in the injured list.

 

 

 

            Crispa’s old reliables Atoy Co, Abet Guidaben, Bernard Fabiosa, Freddie Hubalde, Joy Dionisio, Tito Varela, Cris Calilan, Bong Dela Cruz, Rey Franco, Rey Pages, and Mando Torres will still be around.

 

            Toyota, on the other hand, aside from Jaworski, Florencio, Arnaiz and Fernandez, have sophomores Abe King, Emer Legaspi, Nick Bulaong, Ambo Javier and Fort Acuña, Rino Salazar, Jess Sta. Maria and Oscar Rocha.

 

            Not to be outdone are perennial threats U/Tex and Tanduay. U/Tex, fresh from an invitational tournament in Hongkong, has acquired two of the best amateur players in Etok Lobo and Anthony Dasalla.

 

            Aside from its prized catch, U/Tex still has Lim Eng Beng, Boy Kutch, Ricky Pineda, Jimmy Noblezada, Romy Cabading, Rudolf Hines, Ed Camus, Roy Deles, Boy Mora and the comebacking Romeo Frank.

 

            Tanduay has the same team, Freddie Webb, Rene Canent, Joy Cleofas, Abet Gutierrez, Dave Supnet, Jimmy Taguines, Mike Bilbao, Ace Moreno, Ric Catacutan, Vic Sanchez and Bert Dela Rosa.

 

            Newcomers to grace Tanduay’s team this season is top amateur player Jimmy Manansala, Abe Monzon and Ver Santos.

 

            Honda, with new coach Alberto Reynoso, formerly the country’s number one center, is the team to watch this season. It has remained intact except for some old names recruited from the other teams like Orly Bauzon, Tino Reynoso and Caloy Rodriguez.

 

            Retained in the team are Epoy Alcantara, Mark Arriola, Manny Chan, Luke Dacula, Mariano Figuracion, Jun Papa, Jesse Sullano, Mario Marasigan, Ompong Segura, Gil Cortez, and Renan Pablo.

 

            It has lost its big difference, Billy Robinson, who is back in the United States.

 

 

 

            Presto came up with a tentative list of Manny Paner, Ernesto Morales, Johnny Revilla, Danilo Pribhdas, Lory Tolentino, Dante Ritualo, Bien Alenton, Danny Basilan and Boy Clariño.

 

            Royal Tru Orange has the most number of rookies in the team. The squad is beefed up by former amateurs Leo Paguntalan, Marlowe Jacutin, Paul Velasco, Tony Torrente, Richard dela Peña and Rudy Lalota.

 

            Its maintays are Yoyong Martirez, Molet Pineda, Norbie Rivera, Max Baguio and Marte Samson.

 

            Botchok Delos Santos is another addition to the team.

 

            Seven-Up’s lineup reads Jaime Mariano, Roberto Salonga, Jacinto Chua, Alfredo Enriquez, Romulo Palijo, Ernesto de Leon, Lawrence Mumar, Orlando delos Santos, Jaime Otazu, Renato Sidamon, and, hold your breath, Estoy Estrada!

 

            Yesiree, the former hotshot of Tru Orange and considered one of the best pointmakers in the PBA, has joined Seven-Up to fill in the gap vacated by Danny Florencio.

 

            That’s the PBA’s rigodon de onor.

 

            “The All Filipino title is a prestigious one. We always try hard in this conference,” said Coach Baby Dalupan.

 

            “I think we will be better off this year. My boys are physically fit and I am confident we will make it this time,” Coach Dante Silverio said with all optimism.

 

            Words indeed from mentors of PBA’s leading ballclubs which are expected to clash anew and resume rivalry as to who’s who in the PBA.

 

            But then, don’t count U/Tex out. And Tanduay, too. They could play the bride’s role this year, who knows?

 

            On Sunday, after the opening ceremonies, Toyota will face Tanduay while U/Tex test their wares against defending champion, Crispa.

To Raise Moral (Sports World, 1974)

Sports World Magazine

November 23, 1974

Beth Celis

 

 

            At last, they’re forming a professional basketball league.

 

            Good. Now there is a chance to restore morality to Philippine basketball.

 

            The eight breakaway MICAA teams – Mariwasa, Crispa, Toyota, YCO, Concepcion, U/Tex, Seven-Up, and CFC – led by no less than the association’s former president (Domingo Itchon of YCO) and current president (Mariwasa’s Emerson Coseteng) have declared they’re going pro in order to “clarify” the status of their players and of the league itself.

 

            The BAP, on the other hand, wants a “transition” period. In other words, they want more time under the status quo.

 

            And the BAP argument is based on their fear, a valid one, of course, that national representation will suddenly become much weaker until stronger amateurs can be developed by a more competent development program.

 

            The argument is couched in moral terms, naturally. One side speaks of “honesty,” the other of “patriotism.” 

 

 

 

            But we all know that the breakaway MICAA teams simply, finally got fed up with the BAP’s honing in on the playing time of the best MICAA players. And playing time means money at the gate and from TV.

 

            Remember when the BAP wanted to ban the champion ABC players from playing in the MICAA from December, 1973 to July, 1974 because the BAP said, they wanted to keep training the team for the Puerto Rico games? That would have been eight months of fundraising games for the BAP.

 

            The MICAA hasn’t issued any income announcements, but the players know that its take went down this year owing to frequent BAP requisitions of playing time.

 

            So, if you go behind the value-attached terminology (such as “amateurism” and “patriotism”), what you get is a struggle over income between the MICAA teams and the BAP. And the BAP, it turns out, will be the loser since its position is basically parasitic and usurping.

 

            Doming Itchon told us that it won’t take six months before the pro league gets going. They’re waiting for the papers from the NBA so they’ll profit from the American experience. But at the same time, their local preparations are also quite advanced. As he says, it won’t take six months.

 

            One good sign is that the organizers are concerned over the moral aspects of pro basketball. According to Itchon, they would want the players to consult their lawyers before signing contracts with their respective teams.

 

            This is the current attitude. The overwhelming majority of MICAA players want a professional league, but there are also others who have a wait and see attitude. Their reason?

 

            “If the terms of our contract with a pro team are just going to be the same as with the MICAA teams at present, there will be no improvement really.”

 

            This is from a leader among the players.

 

            But it seems that the pro league’s organizers, judging from Mr. Itchon’s statement, are out to do justice to the players.

 

            That’s a very crucial point. It should lay the basis for a moral attitude towards every other aspect of pro basketball in the Philippines. Another word would be “honesty” – it should be an honest to goodness professional league and not just an escape from the clutches of the BAP.

 

            Nobody could really complain about certain irregularities in the MICAA, or in other amateur leagues, for that matter. An organization, for example, could not be criticized for recruiting only mediocre players. And players could not be concretely faulted for holding back. After all, there are more “important” things than amateur play.

 

 

 

            But a pro league will be different. A much higher standard of competence and, yes, morality will be demanded by the public. For the public will be paying for entertainment. Juan Dela Cruz in the bleachers will be a customer, not just a spectator as in amateur sports.

 

            That will mean he will have a right to demand more balanced teams, better conditioned players, more knowledgeable coaches, better officiating, better coliseum facilities, more competent league leadership (such as keeping of statistics), more professional behavior from the players, etc.

 

            The public will henceforth be paying customers. They’ll be more demanding than the present “audience” who can’t really kick about shortcomings in “amateur” circumstances.

 

            In short, there will be a morality to professional basketball, the obligation to give a good and honest show. Since this is basketball country, I’m betting that the pro league will do a good job.

 

            The technical level of basketball will improve, just as the NBA has raised the level not only in the United States but all over the world. We’ll be seeing the exciting return of imported American players. Playing for real money, the pros will have to be and they will be better (At present, the only truly full-time team is the Crispa Redmanizers).

 

            From the point of view of basketball, we like what’s coming. In less than six months.