MANILA, 6 June 2003 — It was, indeed, a night to remember, like an affair to remember.
Toyota beat arch rivals Crispa by the skin of their teeth in a classic reunion match that brought back memories of the good, old days of their rivalry in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
In what could well be a script rich in nostalgia, drama, action and suspense, the fabled Toyota-Crispa rivalry came to life once more and provided an ending worth telling and re-telling.For 48 minutes, they revived an era long gone and showed why it was such an enduring rivalry.
Thanks to two of the greatest Filipino basketball players of all-time - Robert Jaworski, now a senator of the republic, and Ramon Fernandez - Toyota emerged victorious.
Playing for the first time in a long, long while, Jaworski hit a three-point shot off an assist from Fernandez that capped Toyota’s 65-61 victory over arch-nemesis Crispa in the reunion match between the two rival teams that highlighted the start of All-Star weekend at the packed Araneta Coliseum.
Indeed, nobody else could get bigger than Jaworski, the heart and soul of the Toyota ballclub during their heyday in the 70s and 80s. So when the game was on the line, the acknowledged Living Legend of Philippine basketball gallantly took the shot - his only basket of the game - that won the game for Toyota that sent the 6,725 paying fans in uproar.
Truly, the reunion match lived it up to all the media hype. It was actually the front act of the PBA All-Star weekend, but after the fun and thrilling finish, it looked like it would be a hard act to follow by the contemporary stars of the pro league.
And just like in countless times, Jaworski hit the shot that mattered most.
His booming triple came with 23.3 seconds remaining, icing the final score. Bogs Adornado, the league’s three-time MVP, who earlier buried a triple to make it just a 61-62 count, sealed Crispa’s doom with a missed triple of his own on the other end.
Fernandez’s assist brought back memories of the 1989 All-Star game when Jaworski hit his former rival and teammate with a pass that led to the basket that won the game against the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors Team. Interestingly, that was the last time the two PBA pioneers played side-by-side under coach Dante Silverio, their mentor when Toyota bagged the first ever PBA back-to-back crowns in 1975.
Jaworski still thrilled the crowd simply by doing calisthenics in the sidelines. He made the crowd wait agonizingly before finally checking into the game at the 6:33 mark of the third quarter. What followed instantly after the Jaworski basket the crowd was aching to see all night long was virtual pandemonium at the Big Dome — the site of numerous Toyota-Crispa titular showdown.
It was as if the Big Dome had been transplanted to another era. The crowd erupted in frenzy, and the Big Dome’s foundation shook seemingly beyond salvation.
“The Crispa-Toyota rivalry is really one of a kind. It’s been like that in the years before that we’ve actually gotten used to it already,” said Adornado.
Right from the start, when Atoy Co danced his way into the pre-game introductions, electricity cackled in the air. When Fernandez and Jaworski were introduced one after the other, the crown roared like their lives depended on it.
“When I got the ball, I just thought ‘I got to make it’ and I did. The option was there, and I was left open, I had no other choice but to take the shot,” said Jaworski.
“It’s just fitting that I returned the favor. I wanted to draw his man to keep him open and just like the Big J of old, he hit the shot,” said Fernandez, said of his Toyota teammate for eight years before parting ways after the disbanding of the Tamaraws. Silverio said obviously, time has healed the bitter past that forced Fernandez and Jaworski to part ways when Toyota disbanded.
“The had misunderstanding in the past, but I think that’s already forgotten. Both were very cordial to each other and greeted each other. As far as jealousy is concerned, it’s a thing of the past,” said Silverio, who is one of the multititled PBA coaches.
“It’s like we followed a script,” said Jaworski, who at the end of the game was mobbed by fans that stuck to their seat for three and a half hours of nostalgic basketball. That was the lone attempt made by Jaworski in 10 minutes of action. The 1977 MVP awardee pulled down one rebound and committed one foul for his other stats.
Jaworski later said he’s yet to retire from the game. “I haven’t called it a day yet. I haven’t even warmed up (for a comeback),” said Jaworski, whose most recent stint on the hard court was in 1998 as player-coach at Ginebra. Crispa coach Baby Dalupan approached Jaworski after the game and told him: “I was right, I knew you’ll take one hell of a shot, but the boys didn’t believe me”
“We couldn’t ask for a better ending,” said Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Noli Eala.
The players from both Crispa and Toyota may have been slowed down by age, but the passion for the game remained intact.
Throughout, it was a see sawing battle, rugged and physical at times dished out by the Tamaraws and the Redmanizers, old and slowed down by the years but spirited as ever.
