By JONAS TERRADO
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Asia’s first pay-for-play league, opened shop in 1975.
On July 31 of that same year saw the newly-formed professional league crown its first champion when Toyota beat Crispa handily before a big crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.
Toyota prevailed, 117-94, to complete a 3-1 win in the best-of-five series for the PBA’s first conference crown, with coach Dante SIlverio getting a big lift from his main weapons.
Ompong Segura was hailed as the best player of the title-clincher when he posted a game-high 29 points while four other players scored in double figures for the Comets.
“Rodolfo Segura, in a widely-acclaimed performance, could not have chosen a better occasion to unshackle himself from the chains of mediocrity as he led the Toyota attack with 29 points, most of them from afar, and shared stellar billing with lethal Byron ‘Snake’ Jones, who again controlled the rebounds and matched Robert Jaworski’s 20-point output,” wrote former Bulletin sports editor Ding Marcelo, who covered that game for the same publication.
Francis Arnaiz added 19 points and Tino Reynoso chipped in 14.
The presence of Jones proved to be the difference-maker for the Comets in frustrating the Redmanizers.
The 6-foot-8 former draft pick of the Boston Celtics was tapped by the Delta Motors franchise which took advantage of a rule that gave teams the option to hire imports.
With Jones towering the middle, the Comets were able to take control of the paint against the all-local Redmanizers side.
“He has been doing what Comet coach Dante Silverio expects him to do: control the shaded lane and the backboards,” said then-Bulletin sports editor Lito Fernandez in a column. “With ‘Snake’ doing his job, the rest of the Comets are doing theirs too.
“Francis Arnaiz is the steady court general. Ramon Fernandez is Jones’ backup man and assists. Robert Jaworski puts the cuffs on William Adornado. Rodolfo Segura and Cristino Reynoso provide the artillery. Even tiny Joaquin Rojas Jr., the oldest player in the PBA, does his share with his heady play.”
Toyota easily made its way to the finals after going 13-5 in the eliminations and sweeping the six-game semifinal phase.
Crispa, which beat Toyota twice in the elims, barely made it to the championship stage after beating U-Tex in a playoff. But the Redmanizers stole the thunder from the Comets by taking Game 1 107-103 courtesy of 29 points from eventual Most Valuable Player Bogs Adornado.
Toyota bounced back with a narrow 88-87 win in the second game held July 28 before repeating over Crispa the following night by taking a bruising 109-105 triumph.
Game 4 turned out to be an anti-climatic end to the PBA’s first title series, though Silverio later said he was expecting his boys to take home the trophy.
“We knew we would win, but the margin was unbelievable,” said Silverio.
It was the first of 10 title showdowns between the two teams to emerge as perhaps the greatest rivalry in Philippine sports.
The PBA would see more teams and players gain legendary status by producing winning moments over the next 45 seasons.
