Team of the Year: Whose else? (Dec. 25-31, 1976)

Legendary announcer Dick Ildefonso broke down Crispa's comeback victory over Toyota in the finals of the 1976 PBA All-Philippine Championship in a column for Sports World Magazine.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: WHOSE ELSE?

Here's Dick

By Dick Ildefonso

Sports World

Published Dec. 25-31, 1976

The Crispa charisma triumphed over Toyota tenacity in a year-end showdown which turned out to be an anti-climactic letdown after such a classic build-up as both quintets stretch the best-of-five championship series to the limit.

The Redmanizers, in the same fashion that marked their march to three conference titles, again started their bid somewhat doubtfully by dropping two important qualifying round matches to Noritake and Toyota respectively which forced them into a sudden-death play-off with the Porcelain-Makers before their championship confrontation with the Tamaraws.

It appeared to be a short-lived series as the tough Toyotans romped off with back-to-back victories to post an awesome 2-0 advantage which again placed the Crispans with their backs against the wall.

Unfazed and undaunted by the terrific odds coupled with the fact that no other team has ever won a PBA title after dropping the first two games, the fired-up Redmanizers led by the unstoppable Ato Co came back from the grave to win their third PBA crown this year and complete an unprecedented grand slam.

How did Crispa manage the grand slam especially after their uninspiring starts in all three conferences?

The secret seems to be an almost intangible combination of factors.

Besides Crispa's vaunted deep bench and the unquestionable expertise of coach Baby Dalupan, Danny Floro's handling and treatment of the players contributed immensely to the team's morale. No other manager-owner is an approachable or as magnanimous in defeat or victory as the genial Crispa executive, who readily admits that so much of his time has been spent with the team that he has not been able to do a stitch of work at the Floro Knitting Mills in Pasig. His brother and father, however, are not complaining.

A major factor in the team's success can be attributed to their ability to learn from their mistakes. After dropping three consecutive games to the Tamaraws, the Redmanizers reviewed the video tapes of their 2nd conference victories over Toyota side by side with their recent losses. They themselves realized what they were doing wrong and the result was Crispa's stirring 3-game winning streak from 2 games down.

In the last three matches the notoriously error-prone Redmanizers drastically reduced their errors capping thos off with only 11 in their final game against 14 by Toyota. Crispa likewise cashed in from the foul line collecting 16 out of 24 compared to Toyota's 10 out of 18.

The stand-out performer of the evening was definitely Crispa's Fortune Cookie, Atoy Co, who was simply unstoppable throughout the series. Sonny Jaworski first took on Co only to amass 3 cripping fouls in the first-half. Francis Arnaiz, who was bothered by the tight check of Tino Calilan, then took over the watch on Co who simply kept pouring it on. As the fouls increased, Orly Bauzon then Gil Cortez followed by Aurelio Clarino were assigned to Co who went on to explode for 39 game-high points to solidify his bid for Mr. Basketball of '76. In my book, he's got it all wrapped up.

And speaking of awards, with the PBA grand slam safely tucked under their belt, the Crispa Redmanizers are a cinch to romp off with the best pro team of the year award and there is no way Baby Dalupan can miss out being named the outstanding coach of the year especially after the Ateneo Eagles' near-sweep of the NCAA cage wards.

It's been an exciting PBA year, indeed, and, judging from the terrific turn out at the gate, a lucrative one for pro ball. Watch out for the '77 season and the changes it will bring. I have a feeling it'll be an even more interesting!

In the meantime...relax and have a Merry Christmas!!!