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This Day in PBA History: Toyota downs rival Crispa to win Invitational crown

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Rey Joble

Abe King considers this one of the most memorable championship wins pulled off by Toyota over arch rival Crispa — and for a good reason.“Somehow ang memorable na natatandaan ko ’yung nanalo sila ng first game tapos na-straight namin sila ng 3 games,” said King, referring to Toyota’s 4-game series win over Crispa to win the 1979 Invitational Conference.Crispa, then carrying the name Walk Tall Jeans, blasted Toyota in the series opener as imports Bernard Harris and Irving Chatman outplayed their counterparts, Andy Fields and Bruce Sky King, to hammer out a convincing 129-101 victory.But that was temporary.Following the loss, Toyota management asked head coach Dante Silverio to reinstate King, Mon Fernandez and Estoy Estrada and allow them to play the rest of the series.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/09/21/this-day-in-pba-history-the-unstoppable-redmanizers">This Day in PBA History: The unstoppable Redmanizers</a></li></ul>Fernandez, King and Estrada were suspended by Silverio, who acted as coach and manager of the squad, for “not giving their best in some games” amid suspicions of game-fixing surrounding the PBA at the time.Such allegations were left unproven and Toyota management decided to lift the suspension of the three players. But the drama didn’t stop from there, as Silverio resigned as coach and manager.Taking over the coaching reins was Fort Acuña.In an interview with Bulletin Today, Silverio explained the reason for his resignation.“I must say once again that my actions against the 3 (Fernandez, King and Estrada) was based on my belief that they did not play their best on several occasions,” Silverio said in an interview dated December 12, 1979.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/11/20/21/this-day-in-pba-history-a-rivalry-turning-one-sided">This Day in PBA History: A rivalry turning one-sided</a></li></ul>“So rather than worry about their possible action on the court, I deemed it better to keep them out of my team. I felt that by doing so, I helped preserve the purity and honor of the sport, which I think are more important than just winning.”With the reentry of Fernandez, King and Estrada, Toyota got immediate additional firepower and the Tamaraws took the next 3 games.Toyota walloped Walk Tall, 123-95, in Game 2, outlasted the Jeansmakers, 107-102, in Game 3 and on this day, 42 years ago, December 15, 1979, completed a 98-87 beatdown of their rivals.Fields, who just a conference earlier tasted a bitter defeat at the hands of Royal Tru-Orange, savored the moment of winning his first PBA championship.“The organization (Toyota) as a whole was a class act,” said Fields. “It even showed in their selection of acquiring players who played with them — (Robert) Jaworski, Fernandez, (Francis) Arnaiz, (Arnie) Tuadles and so many others. They’ve got good, quality players. They were good people as well.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/11/21/this-day-in-pba-history-crispa-beats-toyota-all-filipino-title-1976">This Day in PBA History: Crispa beats rival Toyota to capture 1st All-Filipino crown</a></li></ul>“They made the best of it, made a great organization. I’m biased, but I played with the best players I’ve played with. “Playing with Sonny (Jaworski), Mon, Arnaiz and Tuadles, who was a rookie at the time I came in, it was playing in with guys playing in America. They had the maturity in the game, they played the game very well and had the understanding of the game. They’re also good communicators. We used to communicate on what we looked for and helped each other reached our expectations.”Fields won another title for Toyota — the 1981 Open Conference — where he also won the Best Import award.He also won a championship in the 1982 Open Conference with Donnie Ray Koonce.Basketball historians Atty. Percival Flores and Jay P. Mercado, who used to cheer for Crispa, felt that Toyota’s superb import combination of Fields proved to be too much against their rivals.“Old-time basketball fans would know that pagdating sa imports na sabay, Toyota lagi ang malakas pero pagdating naman sa All-Filipino, Crispa ’yan,” said Flores. “Ever since ’yung combination ni Sky King and John Irving, malakas na sila noon kaya dominated nila ’yung sabayan ang mga imports.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/11/24/21/this-day-in-pba-history-this-is-peak-brown-fox">This Day in PBA History: This is peak &#x27;Brown&#x27; fox</a></li></ul>Mercado, who also serves as one of the hosts of “An Eternity for Basketball”, could only agree with Flores.“No match talaga sa imports. With Crispa, it was really the locals who had been carrying them,” added Mercado. “First import nila in the Invitational was Cyrus Mann and he was replaced by Bernard Harris to team up with Irving Chatman.”<div>Rey Joble is a sports journalist who has been covering the PBA since 1998, and followed the league as a fan way before that. </div><div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hcbNlGr5cTw?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Abe King considers this one of the most memorable championship wins pulled off by Toyota over arch rival Crispa — and for a good reason.