Dalupan: The boys now know where they are (Dec. 12, 1980)

The pressure is off as far as coach Baby Dalupan is concerned after Crispa’s bid for a 20-game sweep of the 1980 PBA All-Filipino Conference was derailed by Toyota in Game 3.

Crispa plays revived Toyota team tonight

Bulletin Today

Published Saturday Dec. 13, 1980

Defending champion Crispa, humbled but still sharp, tries to wind up unfinished business today when it takes on suddenly alive Toyota in the fourth game of their best-of-five series for the PBA All-Filipino championship at the Araneta Coliseum.

With the burden of the 20-game sweep lifted off their like a deadweight, the Redmanizers can now play without much pressure and end it all when they collide with the Tamaraws at 7:30 p.m.

Toyota, at the cost of firing its coach before some 20,000 fans, sprang back to life by coming from behind to win the third game, 97-94, and extend the series.

That was the first win in six meetings by Toyota over Crispa and it came only after coach Fort Acuna was given his walking papers before the start of the third quarter.

Team manager Pablo Carlos, Jr. has temporarily taken over the coaching job, although he said he is acting “like a coordinator with the boys coaching themselves.”

Robert Jaworski, whose running feud with Acuna was the center of the so-called leadership crisis of the team, will be the key man now and his leadership will be the one at stake this time.

Jaworski acquitted himself well in his first try as he ably welded the Tamaraws into a cohesive unit in the final quarter as they rose from the grave to claim the victory.

But how long will the magic work is the big question as the Redmanizers are not expected to get demoralized by the loss.

“The boys now know where they are. It’s like going all over again. The pressure of coming out with that sweep is now gone,” said coach Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan. who attributed their loss to the killing pressure in the third game.

Crispa’s 19-game winning streak will stay on record as the longest for sometime and the Redmanizers may have the consolation of winning the All-Filipino, the centerpiece of the PBA, the most number of times.

The Redmanizers, who won the title three times before — in 1976, 1977 and 1979.

Tanduay and Gilbey’s Gin also mix it up at 5:30 p.m. in the fourth game of their best-of-five series for third place. The Esquires lead the series, 2-1.