Toyota coach Ed Ocampo lamented on the implications of his team’s loss to Crispa in the second phase of the 1983 PBA Reinforced Conference eliminations.
Don’t count out Toyota — Ocampo
By Raffy Japa
Tempo
Published Saturday July 2, 1983
There was no denying the pain and desperation etched in the face of the players of Toyota after the Silver Coronas bowed to Crispa last Tuesday.
With frayed nerves and heavy hearts, the Silver Coronas dragged themselves silently, most with heads bowed, to the dugout.
Never mind the prestige that accompany every Crispa-Toyota match. But Toyota’s loss to the rampaging Redmanizers put the Coronas’ back against the wall and dampened their qualifying chances.
“But we’re still in,” coach Ed Ocampo said, trying to look brave. “We still have three games and if we win them all, pasok pa. If we drop one, puede pa sigurong maka-tie for the last quarterfinal slot.”
It was like a streak of lightning on the horizon, there one instant, gone the next. And Toyota was in the thick of a roller-coaster match with Crispa for three quarters and early in the final period before the Redmanizers threw a flurry of baskets at the stunned Super Coronas to break the game wide open.
“Bumitaw sa last six minutes,” said Ocampo. “Hindi bale si Bates (Billy Ray), he is unstoppable, pero yung locals ang nagpahirap sa amin.”
Ocampo said Tito Varela’s 10-pointer was totally unexpected, while Philip Cezar’s 18 and Fortunato Co’s 20 were not the scores they wanted. “Kung na-minimize sana namin si Cezar and Co to just 12 each,” Ocampo lamented. “We’ll come back in the next three games.”
But Toyota’s next three matches are not easy pickings either. The Silver Coronas collide with second-running Great Taste Coffee on Sunday, before meeting Galerie Dominique and Tanduay next week.
“Ganito rin kami last year. We had to enter the next round via the back door and we still emerged champions,” noted Ocampo. “I just hope we could still make it, but I must confess it is getting precarious, especially with Great Taste and Tanduay still blocking our way.”
“The problem really is not because of internal rift between players. It’s just when a good team start losing its games, people tend to create reasons for the losses. I think it’s more of us getting the smaller import against the big imports of the other team,” said Ocampo.
Ocampo noted that the plays they executed before with a 6-3 import were the same plays they were using with a smaller import.
“But the condition is not the same. Now my big local boys have to work hard on the defense against 6-3 and 6-5 imports, besides helping in the rebound. Ang tendency ay napapagod sila. Nauubos on fouls towards the end of the game,” he said.
“I have to sacrifice two or three of my local big men to guard a big import of the opposition. While the big men of the other team are being paced, mine are overworked,” said Ocampo.
“Napapagod yung mga malalaki ko, kaya we cannot get our running game going. We can’t run without the ball,” said Ocampo.
The Toyota mentor said the team is now adjusting to their new import, Julius Wayne, and are polishing their plays with new ones.
Note: Toyota won its last three games to make the quarterfinals with a 7-7 record. But the Silver Coronas missed out on a semifinals berth after losing all three assignments.
Crispa topped the eliminations with an 11-3 record to claim an outright semis berth. The Redmanizers went 4-2 in the double-round semis before defeating the Great Taste Coffee Makers the full five games to capture the Reinforced Conference crown.
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