It's on with the show (June 19, 1982)

Bulletin Today’s Al Mendoza the two 1982 PBA Reinforced All-Filipino Conference semifinal series, including the Crispa-Toyota showdown.

It’s on with the show

The PBA is now in the homestretch and the fans seem to relish the league’s basketball of surprises, fun and jokes.

By Al S. Mendoza

Bulletin Today

Published Saturday June 19, 1982

The architects of the second PBA Reinforced All-Filipino basketball conference now have the sweet smile of success on their lips even as the league has yet to reach the much-awaited best-of-seven championship series.

With the two finalists still to be known next week — either Tuesday or Thursday — there is already that unmistakable sparkle in the eyes of those who mapped out the exhaustive format of the current loop.

It would now seem that their efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Those who had doubled the wisdom of a three-phase elimination, such as the one used in the league, had began entertaining second thoughts. Most of the doubters were the big chunk of the basketball public who had, in the beginning, shied away from the league.

But as the league wore on, the fans started to trickle back to the Araneta Coliseum. They did so because they constantly read in the papers how the league has been gradually transformed into a happy, exciting affair, how the eight teams had slowly been jelling into fierce fighting units.

Of the eight, only Great Taste was the disappointment  — after it had suffered early setbacks, the Coffee Makers gradually lost the sting that had carried them well in last year’s league and eventually placed last in the eliminations with a dismal 2-16 win-loss record.

Mariwasa-Honda, piloted by Alejandrino Miego and regarded as a patsy team, found inspiration in its lady manager, Nikki Coseteng, to launch the conference last March 7 with a big bang via a stunning upset of U-Tex. That feat was followed by spectacular victories over Crispa and Toyota and up to the last day of the eliminations, the Hondas were in contention for a quarterfinal seat. They lost, however, to Gilbey’s Gin on the final day, giving the sixth and last berth to U-Tex, which had an 8-10 record as against Honda’s 7-11 at the end of the grueling eliminations.

U-Tex, known for its notoriety to bounce back when the odds are great, then bundled out Gilbey’s Gin, No. 3 with its impeccable record of 11-7 in the eliminations (one game shy of Crispa’s 12-6), in a shocking reversal in their own side of their best-of-three quarterfinals. The Wranglers had “two-straight” the Gins as what the Toyota Super Corollas, No. 4 with its 10-8 slate, had done to Yco-Tanduay, No. 5 in the eliminations at 9-9.

And as if to prove to one and all that they really had the sock to author miracles, the Wranglers nosed out the San Miguel Beermen, the eliminations topnotchers with a 13-5 slate, 97-95, after trailing by 18 points last Thursday in a jolting turn of events, the win equalized their best-of-five series to 1-1. San Miguel had beaten U-Tex, 119-111, last Tuesday.

Likewise, in their own best-of-five semifinal series, Crispa and Toyota are also deadlocked at 1-all following Toyota’s equally stunning if not irritating 122-114 victory over Crispa last Thursday. The Redmanizers had beaten the Super Corollas, 115-101, last Tuesday in a match that was awfully one-sided because of the absence of Ramon Fernandez, who had fever owing to an inflamed tonsillitis. Fernandez was back last Thursday and fired 23 points.

So, it’s Game 3 for both pairs today — and the question is: Will there be surprises again?

The big surprise, if not the big joke, last Thursday was the fact that despite the absence of Robert Jaworski, the spirit behind every Toyota juggernaut, the Super Corollas seemed to have an easy time licking the Redmanizers.

The prodigious Glenn Hagan fired 41 points, way above his average of 24.39 points per game, in leading Crispa’s losing cause. It seemed, however, that Hagan didn’t get enough backing from Crispa’s local crew.

Atoy Co, averaging 19.29 points per game, had 13 for the night, the same output of Philip Cezar and Abet Guidaben, who were averaging 15.78 and 17.89 points per game going into the match. Elpidio Villamin, who had a clip of 4.28 per game, this time shared the spotlight with Hagan, unloading 14 points.

The Redmanizers seemed more preoccupied in contesting referees’ call instead of putting their hearts into the game. Scapegoats, that’s what the referees are to players dishing out lousy performances.

A surprise is expected also in today’s game between San Miguel and U-Tex but, happily for the cage fans, it’s going to be a clean and an honest surprise.

William Adornado of U-Tex was ejected from a game for the first time in his life last Thursday — that was a clean surprise — but his team still managed to eke out a 97-95 cliffhanger on a drive by Fritz Gaston with 44 ticks left.

Tommy Manotoc, who felt that Wrangler’s Julius Wayne had committed a backing violation — had placed the game under protest but as of 4 p.m. yesterday, he has yet to forward a written complaint within 24 hours after a game had ended with a bond of P3,000 enclosed in it.

But protest or no protest, the show must go on. Going into today’s games, ticket sales had already surpassed by 40 percent the gate receipts of last year’s Reinforced All-Filipino although there has been no increase in ticket prices this year — P40 for lower box ringside, P35 for upper box first three rows, P30 for upper box, and P5 for general admission.

“A fifth game in the current semifinals is the dream of all,” says Pepito Castro, the PBA secretary. “If this happens, our mileage will all the more be good, exposure of the teams will be maximized because all eyes will be focused on the four semifinalists. Add to this the fact that the teams involved will realize bigger profits.”

On with the show then because, what else is new?