The best tandem of two new PBA imports in the 80s

When talking about the best tandem of new or first-time imports to have played in the PBA, the pair of Larry Pounds and Otto Moore of Royal Tru-Orange in 1979 and Rob Williams and Andre McKoy of Tanduay in 1986 would stood out and it’s because they led their teams to their first-ever PBA title. However, there are some imported duos who also played together like they were teammates for so long. Among the best for me in the 70s aside from Pounds-Moore is Jim Hearns and Darryl Smith of Great Taste, who were virtual unknowns when they led the Discoverers to their first respectable finish in the 1979 Open. In the 1980s, there are six other new import team-up in my list of crackerjack combinations that deserves to be mentioned, these are not necessarily in order.

Darrell Allums and Francois Wise of U/tex (1981 Open)

The defending champions at the start of the 1981 Open Conference have impressive imports recruited by new U-Tex coach Glenn McDonald. The 6-4 Francois Wise and 6-9 Darrell Allums jelled right from the start with their local teammates. Allums and Wise appear to be “what the doctor” ordered for the Wranglers as evidence by what U-Tex had notched by way of a won-loss record after 18 games in the eliminations. They were on top of the standings along with San Miguel Beer, handled by their former coach Tommy Manotoc and has McDonald’s last two partners, James Robinson and Aaron James, as their imports. U-Tex only lost four times, all by a single margin and two of those losses by one-point to Toyota. The Wranglers went 3-0 over Crispa after the first round of the semifinals.

Rich Adams and Danny Salisbury of N-Rich (1982 Open)

Picked by N-Rich after a tryout, these two hardworking imports quickly proved themselves as a perfect tandem for the Coffee Creamers. Salisbury average 37 points and Adams with 33.47 points per game when N-Rich swept all its six games in Phase 1 of the eliminations.

The first finals seat in the 1982 Open Conference was already conceded to N-Rich when they took sole possession of the lead with a down-the-wire 106-104 win over San Miguel in the fourth playdate of the semifinal round. One more win and the doormat squad in the season’s first conference are in the finals. They never got to make it – the Coffee Creamers got dumped by resurgent Gilbey’s Gin, which roared to its third straight win in the semis via 122-111 overtime victory over N-Rich. With their identical 3-2 cards vice versa to Toyota and San Miguel’s 2-3 slates with just one playdate left, N-Rich and Gilbey’s only need to win their last game to make history and sealed the first non Crispa-Toyota finals clash and the first time both teams entering the finals and gunning for their first title. Gilbey’s did made it through with a 102-101 win over San Miguel but N-Rich was forced into a playoff by Toyota, losing by seven points, 103-110. The CFC ballclub blew it once again when they bowed to Toyota in the knockout game just like the last conference of the 1981 season when they lost to Crispa in the playoff for the right to play U/tex in the finals.

For Rich Adams, it was another heartbreaker the following season when he team-up with the import responsible for eliminating his team in the finals – Donnie Ray Koonce, this time they played together at San Miguel and the Beermen were in a similar situation in the 1983 Open as N-Rich was a year ago, one win away from a finals berth, only to lose their last two games in the semis and subsequently the playoff match.

Curtis Berry and Jerome Henderson of YCO-Tanduay (1982 Open)

The 6-8 Berry and 6-11 Henderson have transformed YCO-Tanduay into a front-running contingent in the 1982 Open Conference. The sensational surge started halfway through the eliminations. After splitting their first six assignments in Phase 1 and dropping a 124-126 decision to N-Rich in their first outing in Phase 2, the Esquires scored six consecutive victories which had them running second overall behind league-leading N-Rich. Towards the end of the three-phase eliminations, the Esquires were beaten out by Gilbey’s Gin for an outright seat in the semis and as I mentioned before, YCO-Tanduay was booted out of the final four because of the back-to-zero quarterfinal round-robin.

These two underrated imports never got another chance to play in the PBA again, Jerome Henderson would later made it to the LA Lakers roster in the 1985-86 NBA season.

Harold Keeling and Michael Young of Manila Beer (1986 Open)

Only the more compatible tandem of Billy Ray Bates and Michael Hackett prevented the equally fantastic tandem of Michael Young and Harold Keeling from leading Manila Beer to their first-ever title. The left-handed Young was personally scouted and signed up by team manager Andy Jao. The former draftee of the Boston Celtics started out with a bang when he notched 62 points, including five three-point shots in the last quarter to lead Manila Beer past double champion Tanduay Rhum Makers, 127-123. At that time, only the Black Superman had score more in his PBA debut. The Beermen’s other prized catch, Harold Keeling, a former Dallas Maverick has a good medium range shot and plays the point guard for the team.

Manila Beer had more than its share of luck in making it to the finals. Two one-point victories against Great Taste, 115-114 and 122-121, and two wins over Tanduay by a margin of three points, 114-111 and 111-108. The last victory against Tanduay in the semifinals on November 25, 1986 was the most unforgettable, After Rob Williams tied the count at 108-all with a triple with one second left, Brewmasters coach Tito Eduque called a timeout and just when everyone in the arena thought the game will go into overtime, immediately upon throw-in, Michael Young capped his heroics with a last second jumpshot from 30-odd feet out. The last second shot stopped short the Rhum Makers’ surge to greatness.

Alvin Franklin and Lewis Jackson of Great Taste (1986 Open)

The Coffee Makers’ second pair of acquisitions with notable credentials, Alvin Franklin and Lewis Jackson, started off on a wrong foot when Great Taste lost two straight in their first two outings in the second round of eliminations and not a few felt the Coffee Makers should have never let go of Johnny Brown. The Coffee Makers provided the excitement in the semifinal round that Shell’s unheralded twosome of Dexter Shouse and Fred Reynolds was supposed to and would easily be among the best of two new imports in the conference if only Reynolds didn’t get injured.

Lewis Jackson played his best game against Ginebra in the first day of the semis, registering a triple double and accounted for most if not all of the team’s 10 block shots in a gallant stand put up by the Coffee Makers in a 125-130 loss. Against Manila Beer, they erased a 25-point lead by the Brewmasters in the second quarter and lead for the first time, 114-113 with 1:20 left, Michael Young streaked downcourt, misses but followed up his shot for the final count as Great Taste couldn’t buy a basket in the last 65 seconds. In their final attempt to stay in contention with a slim chance to prevent a Ginebra-Manila Beer finals showdown, Alvin Franklin missed on his shot at the buzzer in another one-point loss to Manila Beer.

Tommy Davis and Joe Ward of Anejo Rum 65 (1988 Reinforced)

Anejo’s high-scoring import duo of Joe Ward and Tommy Davis may be remembered now for their punching abilities as the curtain was about to close on the 1988 season during Game four of the series for third place against Presto. The 65ers had one good run of four straight victories when Ward and Davis started playing together in the second round of eliminations. They made lots of records for combined outputs, accounting for 122 out of 157 total points of Anejo in their overtime win over Purefoods on October 30 with Ward scoring 63 points and Davis with 59. In the no-bearing 181-173 win over Shell on December 1, Ward scored 78 points and Davis added 55 points for a combined total of 133. In their final game with the Rum Masters, Davis scored 65 points while Ward scored 61.

 

 

PBA Open fantasy match: 1982 Toyota vs 1986 Ginebra

In 1982, the PBA Open Conference for the first time was the third and last tournament of the season, it was repeated the following year and in 1986, it was the last time the Open Conference, which also had two imports per team, being the final offing of the season.

This is the only time I’ll be writing a blog on a fantasy game and there’s no other more realistic dream match than pitting the 1982 Open Conference champions Toyota Super Corollas vs the 1986 Open Conference champions Ginebra San Miguel, featuring a super match-up of imports, Andrew Fields and Donnie Ray Koonce of Toyota and the celebrated Michael Hackett and Billy Ray Bates of Ginebra.

Let’s say this battle of champions will be a best-of-five affair, we’ll first take a look at the locals and coaches involved, besides the two imports, the teams performances in their respective conferences and finally the outcome.

Francis Arnaiz was semi-retired when the Gins won their first crown so he’ll be the only Ginebra player on the Toyota side to go up against his buddy, Sonny Jaworski. The Big J didn’t get to celebrate a lot in Toyota’s last championship in 1982 because he was on the injured list and never saw action in the Super Corollas’ three-game finals sweep off Gilbey’s Gin, which is his destiny ballclub after. Toyota rookie Terry Saldaña will be on the Ginebra’s side to make it competitive in the forward position with him and Chito Loyzaga going up against Abe King and Ricky Relosa. The MVP winner in both years, Ramon Fernandez, have played against Ginebra in the 1986 All-Filipino finals. Two other Toyota rookies, Ed Cordero and Tim Coloso, were part of the Manila Beer Brewmasters that lost to Ginebra in the Open finals.

The rest of the players for the Super Corollas to complete 10 locals out of the 12-man roster are Arnie Tuadles, Emer Legaspi, Pol Herrera and Nick Bulaong. I will exclude Danny Florencio since he was already past his best in his last conference with Toyota. The Ginebras, aside from the Big J, Saldaña and Chito Loyzaga, will be composed of rookies Dondon Ampalayo and Leo Isaac, Joey Loyzaga, Dante Gonzalgo, Romulo Mamaril, Joey Marquez and Ed Ducut. Experience-wise, Toyota has the edge and their locals wont depend a lot on their imports, unlike the Ginebra players, they relied much of the scoring on Bates and Hackett.

I considered Koonce and Fields as the second-best import tandem in PBA history after Bates and Hackett, but I tend to believe they may not have the best chemistry among two imports since Koonce moved to San Miguel the following season. The Ginebra imports referred then as “Walang Katapat” can be so devastating, the very best their toughest opponent (Manila Beer with the machine-like efficiency of Michael Young) can offer, the Ginebras with the tried and tested Billy Ray and Mighty Bucket still found a way to win.

The Super Corollas that won the 1982 Open crown may have the worst percentage of any PBA champion team, 17 wins and 14 losses. In the elimination phase, Toyota lost twice to league-leaders N-Rich and Gilbey’s, they never got to slip past YCO-Tanduay in three encounters, split two games with U/tex and could do no better than a 2-1 slate against San Miguel. On the other hand, Ginebra in the 1986 Open are not that invincible but is so difficult to beat. They had one loss each to Manila Beer, Tanduay and Shell, only Great Taste was able to score two victories to equalize at two wins apiece. Their finals opponent, Gilbey’s had 8 players who would play in the All-Filipino finals the following season against Crispa, but the 1982 squad does not have Terry Saldaña nor Gary Vargas and Steve Watson yet. The 1986 Manila Beer has three potent players from the Redmanizers and Abet Guidaben and Yoyoy Villamin got the highest individual honors by the end of the 1987 season, one year after Ginebra defeated Manila Beer in the finals.

The coaching battle is too familiar and evenly match, coach Ed Ocampo vs playing coach Sonny Jaworski. We know the veteran coach and former three-time Olympian is a winning mentor, having won four PBA titles. While the Big J is an inspirational leader who can inspire, energize and rally his team. By 1986, he was ripe to join the winner’s circle among coaches.

The Super Corollas’ losing record against other teams and Gilbey’s prior to the finals should not be the basis especially if they play in their championship form. But the hunger of the 1986 Ginebra in a way is much more intense, particularly when they were thwarted from winning their first crown in the All-Filipino. In a best-of-five series, I would go with the 1986 Open Conference champions via 3-1 score, possibly winning the fourth game in a similar fashion the La Tondena ballclub won Game four of their first two championships which went into overtime. At worst, they’ll be forced into a deciding game but will go on to win for a 3-2 count. In a long run like a best-of-seven series where it reaches a seventh game, the 1982 Toyota may pull it off.