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The Crispa-Toyota
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
was between the now-defunct PBA teams — the
Crispa Redmanizers The Crispa Redmanizers were a multi-titled Filipino basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1984. It was one of the nine founding teams of the PBA, winning a total of thirteen PBA championships, ...
and the
Toyota Tamaraws is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
. 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 The MERALCO Reddy Kilowatts were a basketball team of the MERALCO Athletic Club owned by the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) that played in the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) from 1968 to 1972. Its moniker and m ...
in the Manila Industrial Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA). After the Meralco team disbanded in 1972, most of its former players went on to form the core of a new team, the Komatsu Komets (later renamed, Toyota Comets) in 1973. The first championship matchup between the two teams took place during the 1974 MICAA All-Filipino tournament. The Redmanizers scored a 2–0 sweep, winning the title-clinching game on October 15, 1974. They secured the victory in the final 42 seconds to win, 103–99, before a crowd of 14,000 at the
Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Quezon City#Cubao, Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. ...
. When the PBA was formed in 1975, the two teams dominated the league during its early years. They faced each other in the finals of six consecutive conferences in the PBA's first two seasons in 1975–1976.  Toyota had an early advantage, securing their first two championships in the league's inaugural season. After Crispa denied Toyota of a grand slam in 1975 by winning the third conference All-Philippine championship in a 3–2 series victory, the Redmanizers defeated the Comets in all three conferences the following year in 1976, thus becoming the league's first grand slam winner. After the 1976 season, the two rivals would face each other again during finals of the 1979 season All-Filipino, with Crispa beating Toyota. The Toyota Tamaraws finally won against the Redmanizers, winning the 1979 Invitational championship. The final championship face-off between the two teams was during the
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
Open Conference. The Toyota Super Diesels defeated the Crispa Redmanizers, 103–97, in the fifth and final game of the best-of-five title series on July 25, 1981. The count in the finals meeting was six wins for Crispa and four for Toyota. Their final official PBA game took place 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 as against 58 to Toyota. In February 15, 1984, Toyota's PBA franchise was sold to Shareholdings, Inc. of the Lucio Tan group. The following year, the PBA franchise of the Crispa team was sold to Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation.


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 The 1977 PBA season was the third season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Season highlights *The league's third season started on April 17 and for the first time, three referees were called to officiate the games. The opening gam ...
that was marred by a post-game rumble at
Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Quezon City#Cubao, Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. ...
dugout involving players from both teams. It was reported that players from both sides were detained in Fort Bonifacio, Makati City, 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 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
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 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
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. Since the disbandment of both teams, there were a few short-lived rivalries in the PBA that followed, but not as intense as to this rivalry. Players from both teams garnered popularity outside of the playing court. Such was evident with Robert Jaworski's senatorial victory in 1998, Ramon 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.


2003 reunion game

A reunion game between both teams was played on May 30, 2003, at the
Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Quezon City#Cubao, Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. ...
as part of the PBA All-Star Weekend festivities. The game was a closely contested match which saw the lead change hands many times. Toyota won the reunion game 65-61. After Adornado's three-pointer with under a minute left to cut the deficit at 62–61, Toyota teammate and former rival Fernandez passed the ball to Jaworski on the outside. Jaworski hit the three-pointer to put the game away for good, to the delight of the huge crowd. Many saw the play as a reversal of the memorable game-winner in the 1989 All-Star Game, where Fernandez scored the game winning shot from a Jaworski pass and saw both players publicly end their well-known feud. Toyota was coached by Dante Silverio, with Jaworski also lending some of his coaching tactics, while Crispa was coached by Baby Dalupan. Terry Saldaña won the MVP of the game after posting a
double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...
for the Tamaraws. On 28 May 2005, to celebrate the PBA's 30th Anniversary, the PBA 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 included a few former Toyota players. On the other side, coach Baby Dalupan had his Legends team, which featured several former Crispa players. The game was won by the Legends, 96–92. In retrospect, the Crispa–Toyota rivalry helped build the popularity of the PBA and of basketball in the country.


Statistics

From 1975 to 1983: *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:


References


External links


Crispa-Toyota rivalryPBA.ph TimelineReunion pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crispa-Toyota rivalry Philippine Basketball Association rivalries Toyota Super Corollas
Toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...