1977 Crispa Redmanizers season

1977 Crispa Redmanizers season
Head coach	Baby Dalupan
Owner(s)	P. Floro and Sons, Inc.
All Filipino Conference results Record 22–2 (.917) Place 1st Playoff finish Finals Open Conference results Record 22–8 (.733) Place 1st Playoff finish Finals Invitational Conference results Record 5–5 (.500) Place 4th Playoff finish N/A Crispa Redmanizers seasons 1976 1978

The 1977 Crispa Redmanizers season was the third season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Colors

Crispa Redmanizers
                    (dark)
                    (light)

Occurrences

The main game in the opening of the PBA's third season on April 17, the Crispa Redmanizers edge their rival Toyota Tamaraws, 122-121, in a match marred by post-game rumble at the Araneta Coliseum dugout involving players from both teams. ^[1]

Summary

Two-time MVP Bogs Adornado was out of action for the whole season with an injured knee, despite missing his services, the Redmanizers all but smothered the field, topping the two-round eliminations in the first conference with a 13-1 won-loss record and swept the four-team semifinals, while fans were looking forward to another Crispa-Toyota title clash, the Tamaraws were eliminated from the finals race by Mariwasa-Honda as Billy Robinson drilled in 56 points in a 121-114 victory, it was the first time in seven conferences that Toyota missed a finale. The Crispa Redmanizers defeated the Panthers in the best-of-five title-series, 3 games to 1, they clinch their fifth straight championship on July 24 in a 139-128 victory in Game 4.

Cyrus Mann return to play for Crispa in the second conference, this time teaming up with Ricky Hicks, ^[2] the Redmanizers led the way in Group B standings with an 11-3 card, Hicks has since been sent home. In the semifinal round, the U-Tex Wranglers sailed into the championship round in unprecedented fashion and in the process, shoved Crispa in a knockout battle against Toyota for the remaining finals berth, the Redmanizers prevail over the Tamaraws in a playoff, 90-87. In the championship series, U-Tex forced a deciding fifth game, winning games 1 and 4. Crispa finally squeeze through with a 90-88 win in the final game for their sixth straight title, which coach Baby Dalupan said was his toughest championship. ^[3]

Chris McMurray, who previously played for Seven-Up in the second conference, joined Cyrus Mann as the Redmanizers' import for the Invitational Conference, which features the Palmeiras from Brazil, Mann's former team, who became known as Emtex Sacronels, and Ramrod Blocks from Australia. Crispa's sudden lack of fire cause the Redmanizers right from the start, losing three straight games and eventually missed the finals for the first time, placing fourth behind Tanduay.

Awards

With the absence of two-time MVP William "Bogs" Adornado, coming into his own is Freddie Hubalde, who outshown his collegiate teammate Atoy Co in a performance that earned him the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Roster

Roster	#	Position	Height
Cristino Calilan	23	Guard	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
David Cezar	16	Guard	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Philip Cezar	18	Forward	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Fortunato Co, Jr	6	Guard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Virgilio Dela Cruz	12	Guard-Forward	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Gregorio Dionisio	9	Guard	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Bernie Fabiosa	15	Guard	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Rey Franco	19	Guard	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Abet Guidaben	5	Center	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Freddie Hubalde	10	Guard-Forward	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Rey Pages	8	Forward	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Rodolfo Soriano	7	Forward	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Armando Torres	17	Guard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Tito Varela	14	Guard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Cyrus Mann ^Import	25	Center	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Ricky Hicks ^Import	27	Forward	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Chris McMurray ^Import		Forward	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)

References

1. Infamous PBA brawl of 1977@Tempo
2. Crispa 1975-1977@Sports Potpourri
3. Crispa-Over the years