Crispa defeated Toyota in the start of the 1983 PBA All-Filipino Conference semifinals despite missing coach Tommy Manotoc who was in Honolulu to witness the birth of his son Borgy.
Tommy is back
Tempo
Published Thursday April 14, 1983
Tommy Manotoc arrived yesterday from Honolulu and, after hearing of Crispa’s 109-102 victory over Toyota, told the Redmanizer: “I’m very proud of you all.”
Crispa’s Danny Floro, speaking for the Redmanizers, told Manotoc: “The boys dedicated this victory to you and your newly-born son.”
Manotoc was in Hawaii for almost two weeks to be with his wife, Imee Marcos, who gave birth to their son last April 9.
While in Honolulu, Manotoc talked to Hugh Fenderson, Crispa’s scout agent in the United States, and got word that Billy Ray Bates, formerly of Portland Trailblazers, and Pico Brown, of the Atlanta Hawks, are coming over next week.
“One of them will be picked to play for Crispa during the Reinforced Conference next month,” said a Crispa source.
Manotoc fired instructions from the airport
DUGOUT
Al Mendoza
Tempo
Published Thursday April 14, 1983
Some 25 seconds before Gilbey’s Gin could complete its humiliation of Great Taste Thursday night, Toyota coach Ed Ocampo remarked: “This is really a big win for the Gins.”
Ocampo and I, together with that little wise guy named Dayong, were watching the game on a portable, colored TV inside the small room of the Vintage Enterprises at the Big Dome, when Ed made his observations. He said: “I couldn’t understand why Great Taste is performing that bad.”
After the final buzzer sounded, Ed stood up, flung a spent ciggie stick to the floor, crushed it with his foot, and said, almost to himself: “Aha, now I got it. The tendency for an assistant coach is for him to rely heavily on his veterans. And in that case, I’ll just pace myself.” Then, turning to me, Ed said, “Of course, that’s just a hunch, but I hope I’m not wrong.”
Ed was speculating on Narciso “Bernie” Bernardo’s strategy for that night’s battle between Crispa and Toyota. I pursued the topic, “Any special game plan?” Ocampo flatly answered “Nothing definite. I believe he (Bernardo) will rely on his veterans and so, if he does that, I repeat, I’ll just pace myself. I’ll the boys.”
Ed was right, but that was as far as the starting five of Crispa was concerned. Bernie, in a move symbolic of Crispa’s durability as a team, fielded in Atoy Co, Bernie Fabiosa, Abet Guidaben, Freddie Hubalde and Philip Cezar, the only survivors of the dreaded Crispa squad of old, which included the likes of William Adornado, Rudy Soriano, Johnny Revilla, and Rey Franco.
The quintet almost played out the entire first quarter, except for Co, who was replaced by Arturo “Bai” Cristobal with four minutes left in the period.
Cristobal was to be involved in a minor fracas later in the game. He got into a heated one-on-one duel with Robert Jaworski and in one play, he crumpled to the floor, claiming he got a nasty punch in the stomach from the Big ‘J.’ The two got double fouls from the referees as the ball on tight guarding by Jaworski and then committed a mispass that was swiped easily by Fernandez, who scampered home for a one-hand dunk.
Cristobal losing his poise and composure was a triumph for Jaworski, Cristobal was the heart of the Crispa offensive when Jaworski defanged him.
But alas, Jaworski’s successful check of Cristobal was not enough to propel his team to victory. Ocampo just couldn’t concoct a formula to ward away what seemed like evil spirits that dogged his boys all evening. After the debacle, Ed could only say: “The boys thought they would win because Tommy was absent. It was a case of over-confidence.”
Unknown to Ocampo, Tommy Manotoc’s spirit was in the hearts of the Redmanizers when Crispa was busy torpedoing Toyota en route to a 109-102 win that avenged their 84-86 defeat in the season’s inaugural March 6.
“He called me up before he boarded his plane for Manila,” said Danny Floro, the jolly Godfather of the Redmanizers. “He asked about the condition of the boys, their training, and their practices under Bernie. Before he hung up, he cheerfully told stories about how lovely his newly-born son is, whom he said weighed 6 1/2 pounds. Then he issued last-minute instructions for tonight’s game. He mentioned Bulaong and Tuadles, how to check the two. Oh, he was that concerned.”
But, this is not to say though that Bernie is to be robbed of the night’s glories. The victory was his and his alone. Any telephone instructions given by Tommy were really of big help to Bernie. Implementing them is another matter, however.
Floro paid tribute to Bernardo after the game: “I salute Bernie. Saludo ako ngayon sa kanya.”
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