Crispa–Toyota rivalry
The Crispa-Toyota rivalry is that between now-defunct Philippine Basketball Association teams, the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Tamaraws.
Such was their popularity that whenever these two teams met on the basketball court, the streets of Metro Manila and in the provinces would be virtually deserted, as most people especially the PBA fans are glued to the TV sets. The two teams dominated the PBA from 1975 to 1983, winning 21 out of the possible 26 PBA titles of those seasons.
History
The rivalry was preceded by that between Crispa and the MERALCO Reddy Kilowatts in the Manila Industrial Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) in 1971 when both teams disputed the MICAA All-Filipino and MICAA Open championships, respectively won by Crispa and MERALCO. After the MERALCO team disbanded in 1973, most of its former players went on to form the core of a new team, the Komatsu Komets (later renamed, Toyota Comets).
The rivalry began during the 1974 MICAA All-Filipino when both teams met for their first championship showdown on October 1974. The Redmanizers closed the gap in the final 42 seconds to win, 103-99, on October 15, 1974, before a crowd of 14,000 at the Araneta Coliseum. Interestingly, both teams were not supposed to settle the title. During the semi-final round of that tournament, the Toyota Comets and the U/Tex Weavers were disputing their place for the finals. U/Tex player Danny Florencio hit a controversial buzzer-beating layup that gave U/Tex the win over Toyota, coming from 20 points down with 7 minutes remaining. U/Tex earned the right to face Crispa for the championship. However, Toyota placed the game under protest and the MICAA officials ordered a rematch. U/Tex refused to play and defaulted the rematch, paving the way for first-ever championship meeting between Crispa and Toyota. This was to be the last tournament of the "old MICAA". The MICAA lost its prominence in basketball with the founding of the professional Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in early 1975.
In 1975, both teams moved to the PBA, where both dominated the league during its formative years. The Redmanizers defeated the Comets in all three conference finals of the 1976 season, becoming the PBA's first grand slam winners. The final championship meeting between the two teams took place on July 25, 1981 during the 1981 PBA Open Conference Finals with Toyota winning the title, 103-97. Both teams played their final official PBA game against each other on October 9, 1983, with Crispa winning, 111-96. In terms of cumulative PBA games played between each other (1975-1983), Crispa won 65 games against 58 losses to Toyota.
The companies behind both teams were affected by the economic downturn of the Philippines, following the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr. in 1983. This resulted in the disbandment of the Toyota team in February 1984, and Crispa the following year.
Memorable moments
- May 10, 1975 saw the first Crispa-Toyota game in the PBA with 11,000 fans watching at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. The Redmanizers won, 139-133, but not without untoward incident as Toyota's Oscar Rocha punched Crispa's Bernie Fabiosa with about three seconds left in the contest. PBA commissioner Leo Prieto handed a one-month suspension and a P500 fine to Rocha while Fabiosa was fined P50 for throwing the ball at Cristino Reynoso, who was likewise asked to pay P25 for making dirty hand gestures.
- On April 17, 1977, Crispa defeated Toyota 122-121 in the opening game of the 1977 PBA season that was marred by a post-game rumble at Araneta Coliseum dugout involving players from both teams. It was reported that players from both sides were detained in Fort Bonifacio, Philippine military headquarters, and were released the next morning. Both teams were fined by then-Commissioner Leo Prieto 5,000 pesos each while Toyota coach Dante Silverio was fined for 1,000 pesos for unsportsmanlike conduct.
- During game three of the 1980 PBA Championship series, Toyota coach Fort Acuña benched team captain Robert Jaworski against Crispa. At this point Crispa were leading by a large margin, and a win would give them the championship, and an unprecedented 20-game sweep of the tournament. During halftime, Acuña was fired by Toyota management for his refusal to put the star player in the game. Inspired by the return of their team leader, Toyota went on to win the game, but lost the series the next game. Almost a year after the incident, Acuña died from an apparent suicide.
- Toyota defeated Crispa, 3-2, in the 1981 PBA Open Conference with Andy Fields and Victor King as Toyota's imports and James Hardy with Byron "Snake" Jones playing for Crispa. The series marked the last time both teams met in a PBA championship series.
Legacy
The rivalry of both teams is still remembered to this day by older basketball fans, sharing countless stories of the historic rivalry. Since the disbandment of both teams, there were a few short-lived rivalries that existed, but not as intense and anticipated as to this rivalry.
It also helped, popularity-wise, some players from both teams garnered instant popularity outside of the playing court. Much was evident such as Jaworski's senatorial victory in 1998, Fernandez's and Philip Cezar's activities within the sport, and the several movie and television show appearances of Atoy Co, Bernie Fabiosa among others.
Crispa-Toyota Reunion Game
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crispa | 14 | 11 | 17 | 19 | 61 |
| Toyota | 16 | 18 | 13 | 18 | 65 |
A highly anticipated reunion game between both teams was played on May 30, 2003 at the Araneta Coliseum as part of the league's All-Star Weekend festivities.
Although most of the players were already past their prime, it did not look like they lost a step at all as each possession was tenaciously fought. The game was a hotly contested match which saw the lead change hands many times, a virtual flashack to both teams' glory days in the late seventies and early eighties.
Toyota won the reunion game 65-61 but not without some late-game magic from Jaworski. After Bogs Adornado's three-pointer with under a minute left to cut the deficit at 62-61, Toyota teammate and former rival Fernandez passed to ball to Jaworski on the outside. The then-Senator hit the three-pointer to put the game away for good, to the delight of a huge crowd at the Big Dome. Many believed that the play was reversal of the memorable game-winner of Fernandez, from a Jaworski pass, that won the game for the veterans in the first-ever All-Star Game in 1989, in which both players shook-hands to end their well-documented feud.
The winning Toyota team was coached by Dante Silverio, with Jaworski also lending some of his coaching tactics, while Crispa was coached by the legendary Baby Dalupan.
Terry Saldaña won the MVP of the game after posting a double-double for the Tamaraws. Although the losing Redmanizers called for a rematch, there has been no serious talk of a potential rematch by both teams.
On 28 May 2005, to celebrate the PBA's 30th Anniversary, the League held PBA's Greatest Game, a match featuring many star players from the League's long history. The game featured the Greats Team coached by Robert Jaworski, and a few Toyota players. On the other side, coach Baby Dalupan had his Legends Team, which featured Crispa players. The game was won by the Legends Team, 96-92, but the stars of that match were the greats of the younger generation.
In retrospect, the Crispa–Toyota rivalry was one of the most colorful episodes in Philippine sports, and ensured the popularity of the Philippine Basketball Association and of basketball in the country.
Statistics
From 1975 to 1983:
| Type | Crispa Redmanizers | Toyota Tamaraws |
| Championships | 13 | 9 |
| All-Filipino | 6 | 2 |
| Reinforced Filipino | 2 | 1 |
| Invitational Championship | 0 | 3 |
| Open | 3 | 3 |
| All-Philippine Championship | 2 | 0 |
| Wins* | 65 | 59 |
| MVP awards | 6 | 2 |
| Rookies of the Year | 1 | 2 |
| Mythical 5 awards | 21 | 17 |
| Best Import awards | 2 | 2 |
| PBA 25th anniversary team members | 7 | 4 |
| PBA Hall of Fame inductees | 6 | 5 |
*including the 2003 PBA reunion game in which Toyota won; and excluding the two 1984 non-PBA exhibition games in Guam where both teams split their two meetings
Head to head meetings
From 1975 to 1983:
| Year | Crispa | Toyota | 1st Conference | 2nd Conference | 3rd Conference |
| 1975 | 9 | 12 | 3 5 | 2 5 | 4 2 |
| 1976 | 13 | 9 | 5 3 | 5 3 | 3 3 |
| 1977 | 7 | 3 | 4 0 | 3 2 | 0 1 |
| 1978 | 5 | 4 | 2 2 | 3 1 | 0 1 |
| 1979 | 8 | 10 | 5 4 | 1 3 | 2 3 |
| 1980 | 8 | 6 | 1 4 | 1 1 | 6 1 |
| 1981 | 6 | 5 | 5 4 | 1 1 | |
| 1982 | 5 | 7 | 3 5 | 1 0 | 1 2 |
| 1983 | 4 | 2 | 1 1 | 2 0 | 1 1 |
| Total | 65 | 58 |
Crispa
Toyota
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