Crispa-Toyota rivalry
| Teams | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First meeting | May 10, 1975 (PBA) | ||||
| Latest meeting | October 9, 1983 | ||||
| Statistics | |||||
| Meetings total | 123 | ||||
| All-time record | 65–58 (.528), Crispa | ||||
| History | |||||
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| PBA Finals |
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| PBA Playoffs |
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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 would be invariably glued to their TV sets watching the game. The two teams dominated the PBA from 1975 to 1983, winning 21 out of the possible 26 PBA titles of those seasons.
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 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 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.
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Wikipedia