8 cagers in ‘basketbrawl’ are punished (Dec. 17, 1975)

Oscar Rocha, Big Boy Reynoso and Philip Cezar were given lengthy suspensions by PBA Commissioner Leo Prieto for their participation in a pair of brawls that happened in Game 5 of the 1975 All-Philippine Championship.

8 PBA cagers in ‘basketbrawl’ are punished

By Ding Marcelo
Bulletin Today
Published Thursday December 18, 1975

Two players from Toyota and one from Crispa were fined P1,000 each and suspended from four and one-half to nine months yesterday while five others drew various fines in wide-ranging punitive action by the Philippine Basketball Association following the tumultuous Crispa-Toyota title match last Sunday.

The punishments were the severest ever meted out by the association since its foundation almost a year ago. PBA Commissioner Leo Prieto expressed the hope that the players, as well as their managers and coaches, would come to their senses and avert a repetition of that riotous evening “for the good of the sport.”

Ramos warns PBA; Crispa, Toyota fined P10,000 each (Dec. 16, 1975)

Philippine Constabulary Chief Fidel Ramos warned the PBA that criminal charges will be filed against players who will take part in violence similar to the Crispa-Toyota brawls that marred the final game of the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship.

PBA gets Ramos warning
Crispa, Toyota fined P10,000 each

By Ding Marcelo
Bulletin Today
Published Wednesday December 17, 1975

Maj. Gen. Fidel Ramos, chief of Constabulary and director-general of the national integrated police, warned yesterday that criminal proceedings will be filed against those found responsible for any repetition of the violence that occurred in the recent Crispa-Toyota basketball matches.

The general issued the warning in a letter to Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner Leo Prieto in the wake of the public outcry raised against the fighting that marred the last championship series.

Prieto slapped yesterday a fine of P10,000 each on the Crispa and Toyota teams for failure of their managers and coaches to control their players during the championship game.

Column: Player fights threat to the future of PBA

Philippines Daily Express sports editor Tony Siddayao opined that the Crispa-Toyota fight that ended the PBA’s first season in 1975 posed a threat to the future of professional basketball.

Player fights threat to the future of PBA

TAKE FIVE
By Antonio M. Siddayao
Philippines Daily Express
Tuesday December 16, 1975

DESPITE rapport from the public and a bonanza at the gates, the fathers of the Philippine Basketball Association are red-faced from embarrassment. Desperate are they about this crisis spawned by the latest player fights. They are aware that these are not only a blackeye on the PBA, but, more importantly, a threat to its future.

No less than the PBA’s commissioner himself grieved over this sudden ebb in the quality of play as the curtains rang down on the PBA’s first season with the victorious Crispa Redmanizers celebrating their All-Philippine title triumph over the Toyota Comets, who had humiliated them all season like no other club had in their entire history.

“It’s a pity,” said Leo Prieto. “I thought we were doing all right until these fights happened. I always thought our clubs were ready for the kind of high-level play of the pros.”

Crispa-Toyota melees decried (Dec. 15, 1975)

The public wasn’t too happy with the events that transpired in Game 5 of the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship between Crispa and Toyota even as commissioner Leo Prieto was deliberating on the sanctions that will be given on erring players.

Crispa-Toyota melees decried

By Ding Marcelo
Bulletin Today
Published Tuesday December 16, 1975

A collective outcry was raised by an outraged public yesterday over the unwarranted violence that marred the Crispa-Toyota title match the other day for the All-Philippine crown of the Philippine Basketball Association.

Calls swamped the Bulletin office moments after Crispa emerged champion by a 96-91 victory over Toyota. The callers asked both teams be severaly punished. Some askd for a suspension ranging from one season to two years while stil other sought, vociferously, for the outrght abolition of the PBA and a return to amateur basketball.

Even as basketball fans reacted to the uncalled-for-violence that erupted twice on the hardcourt, PBA Commissioner Leo Prieto, who is charged with the task of imposing disciplinary action on erring teams and players, was still in the process of consolidating reports and accounts of witnesses.

Game 21: Crispa 96, Toyota 91 (Dec. 14, 1975)

Crispa's title-clinching win over Toyota in the deciding fifth game of the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship was overshadowed by a pair of bench-clearing brawls. The Redmanizers' victory denied the Comets a rare grand slam.

Crispa wins, captures All-Philippine title

By Ding Marcelo
Bulletin Today
Published Monday December 15, 1975

Crispa-Floro vanquished arch-nemesis Toyota, 96-91, last night in a bruising, bloody encounter marked by two bench-emptying free-for-all sessions to win the All-Philippine Championship – the prized title of the infant Philippine Basketball Association.

Close to 40,000 spectators watched both excited and tormented as the two teams, overcome by passion and deep-seated emotion, chased each other with flailing fists across the court, once in the second quarter and again with only 35 seconds left in the game when Crispa was ahead, 96-91.

Oscar Rocha, a sophomore in the Toyota lineup, swung a right cross to Rodolfo Soriano’s faced early in the second quarter in precipitate the first riot that saw all benches emptied, the count at 27-18, in favor of the Redmanizers.

Philip Cezar somewhat blotted what otherwise was a splendid job when he punched Ramon Fernandez in retaliation for an elbow dug in this face when he drove off the Toyota ace for Crispa’s final basket of the evening. Again, all players of both teams swarmed into the court joined in by some fiercely partisan fans and it took another 10 minutes before complete order was restored.

Game 20: Toyota 79, Crispa 77 (Dec. 12, 1975)

Toyota kept alive its bid to complete a grand slam after forcing the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship to a deciding game with a hard-fought victory over Crispa in Game 4.

Toyota thumps Crispa, evens up title series

By Ernesto Gonzales
Philippines Daily Express
Published Saturday December 13, 1975

CRISPA’S all-Filipino maneuvers backfired last night and Toyota scrambled back with a 79-77 victory that forged a rubber match tomorrow in their best-of-five series for the All-Philippine Championship in the Philippine Basketball Association.

The Comets, outplaying the Filipino Redmanizers, came from eight points down in the second quarter then moved ahead for good early in the last quarter against another all-Filipino combination.

Stan Cherry fired six points in a 10-2 salvo that showed Toyota out front at 73-65 and when Crispa, blowing hot and cold from the field, closed in at 71-73, Orlando Bauzon and Rodolfo Segura bailed out the Comets, 79-73, with two minutes remaining.

Game 19: Crispa 101, Toyota 93 (Dec. 10, 1975)

Crispa took control right from the onset to take Game 3 and move one win shy of capturing the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship. The underdog Redmanizers led by as many as 16 points, forcing Toyota to play catch up till the very end.

Crispa deflates Toyota, 101 to 93

By Antonio M. Siddayao
Philippines Daily Express
Published Thursday December 11, 1975

CRISPA’S Redmanizers, bristling again with the deadly form Toyota owner-coach Dante Silverio said he always feared they were capable of, run down the Comets, 101-93, last night and moved within one game of putting away the Philippine Basketball Association’s prize award in its inaugural season - the All-Philippine championship.

The Comets, who never led at ay time in the contest that drew a sellout crowd of 32,000 at the Araneta Coliseum, missed 17 free throws, flubbing 11 of 12 in the third quarter.

The Redmanizers seemed to ride on the momentum of last Monday’s sensational 111-107 all-Filipino triumph as they scored their second straight victory over the Comets and took a 2-1 lead with a fiery all-court game that unnerved the Comets from the first quarter on.

Column: Toyota still favored to sweep series (Dec. 10, 1975)

The great Tony Siddayao, sports editor of the Philippines Daily Express, analyzed Crispa’s successful use of an all-Filipino lineup in the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship series with Toyota.

Despite Monday’s loss, Toyota still favored to sweep series

TAKE FIVE
By Antonio M. Siddayao
Philippines Daily Express
Published Wednesday December 10, 1975

BABY DALUPAN gave a refresher course on the virtues of going all-Filipino last Monday night by keeping his American players on the bench in the last quarter and watching the rest of his underdog Redmanizers turn tables on the American-aided Toyota Comets.

Yes, it was a gamble, Dalupan said. No, he hadn’t forgotten manager Danny Floro’s investments on Peter Crotty and Johnny Burks, who are paid in dollars. It was a gamble that was paying off, so why bring in the Yanks, Baby averted. If things had gone bad, then Crotty or Burks would have been called in.

“Mas may fuerza kung sila (They worked harder, they were more spirited playing with other American),” explained Dalupan, who has taken more beatings in one season than ever before, ever since Dante Silverio surfaced on the coaching scene.

Game 18: Crispa 111, Toyota 107 (Dec. 8, 1975)

The all-Filipino strategy of coach Baby Dalupan worked wonders anew as Crispa beat Toyota to tie the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship title series at 1-1. Bogs Adornado recovered from a dismal performance in the series opener to score a game-high 27 points.

Crispa stops Toyota, 111-107

By Ding Marcelo
Bulletin Today
Published Tuesday December 9, 1975

Crispa-Floro leaned back on an all-Filipino crew when all seemed gone last night and subdued Toyota, 111-107, in another pulsating encounter that levelled the Redmanizers with the Comets at one win apiece in their best-of-five series for the Philippine Basketball Association third conference championship.

Fighting like tigers in going for loose balls while putting an impeccable defense, the Redmanizers outclassed the Comets in the final quarter to register a badly needed victory that assured the series of a fourth game.

It was a game to be remembered primarily because of Crispa coach Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan’s unwavering trust in his Filipino boys who seemed to come up with the finest and most elegant of plays when odds are stacked high against them.

Game 17: Toyota 99, Crispa 97 (Dec. 6, 1975)

Toyota erased a 10-point third quarter deficit behind Byron “Snake” Jones and Robert Jaworski to win the opening game of the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship finals. Crispa star Bogs Adornado was held to just six points after colliding with Jaworski in the second quarter.

Toyota quintet rallies to beat Crispa, 99-97

By Ding Marcelo
Bulletin Today
Published Sunday December 7, 1975

A rock-steady Toyota five outgunned Crispa in a pulse-pounding final quarter last night, 99-97, to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five series for the All-Philippine championship of the Philippine Basketball Association at the Araneta Coliseum.

Byron “Snake” Jones exemplified the Comets’ grace under pressure by unerringly sinking four straight charities in the last 55 seconds to gve Toyota a 99-95 lead which the Redmanizers heroically tried but failed to overcome.

Rodolfo Soriano twisted and groaned to make it 99-97, but the Comets merely ran out the remaining 25 seconds to register their 11th win over Crispa in 17 games.

Game 16: Crispa 118, Toyota 109 (Dec. 4, 1975)

Coach Baby Dalupan’s tactic of using an all-Filipino roster allowed Crispa to beat Toyota in the elimination round of the 1975 PBA All-Philippine Championship. The match came before the two archrivals meet in a  best-of-five title series.

Crispa downs Toyota, 118-109

Bulletin Today
Published Friday December 5, 1975

Crispa coach Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan used an all-Filipino crew in the final quarter last night and this move paid off handsomely as the Redmanizers subdued the Toyota Comets, 118-109, to top the elimination round of the All-Philippine basketball championships at the Araneta Coliseum.

Though the game had no bearing whatsoever in their forthcoming best-of-five series for the crown, the Redmanizers’ win was a moral victory for coach Dalupan who gambled with his Filipino boys and won.

Comet coach Dante Silverio responded to the gambit by sending in also an all-Filipino five, his team leading, 97-95. But it proved disastrous as the Redmanizers, considered as the best all-Filipino basketball team, merely reaffirmed that reputation by quickly racing to a 105-99 lead which Toyota never surmounted.