1981 Toyota Super Diesels season

The 1981 Toyota Super Diesels season was the seventh season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

1981 Toyota Super Diesels season
Head coach	Edgardo Ocampo
Owner(s)	Delta Motor Corporation
Open Conference results
Record	20–9 (.690)
Place	1st
Playoff finish	Champion
Reinforced All-Filipino results
Record	9–5 (.643)
Place	5th
Playoff finish	Round of six
Toyota Super Diesels seasons

Colors

For the Open Conference:
          (dark)
          (light)
For the Reinforced All-Filipino:
               (dark)
               (light)

Summary

Toyota started their new season with a brand new moniker "Super Diesels" and former Royal coach Ed Ocampo as their new head coach. The Super Diesels lost to Crispa, 97-112, in the opening day on March 8. [1] Import Andrew Fields is in his third year of duty, teaming up with Melton Wertz for four games before Wertz was replaced by Victor King. The Super Diesels were the last team to enter the four-team semifinal round. Toyota finishes with an impressive five wins and one loss slate in the semifinals and will play arch rival Crispa Redmanizers in the Open Conference finals.

The last finale

The championship series between Toyota and Crispa will be the 10th and what turn out to be the last time the two rivals meet in the finale. The Super Diesels won the series opener but they lost the next two games and trailed 1-2 against Crispa and on a verge of another disappointing finish. The Super Diesels won Game four to forced a deciding match.

On July 25 with a huge turnout of fans on hand to witness the final game of the series to be officiated by two NBA referees, Jim Capers and Lee Jones, Toyota won over Crispa, 103-97, Andrew Fields' three-point play in the last one minute and twenty seconds of the game turned out to be the winning basket for the Super Diesels. Center Ramon Fernandez was the top local scorer for his team, averaging 23 points per game and posting his highest output in Game two with 29 big points and tallying 20 points in Game five.

Main article: 1981 PBA Open Conference Finals

2nd Conference debacle

With the handicap ruling, the Super Diesels had an option to get an import no taller than 6-1 for the Reinforced Filipino Conference. Toyota had the smallest of imports in 6-0 Archie Talley. Toyota and Crispa once again shared top spot in the elimination phase with seven wins and two losses. In the round of six, the Super Diesels lost their first two matches against the Redmanizers, 110-111, [2] and U-Tex Wranglers, 121-125. They were booted out of contention by Yco-Tanduay after suffering their third loss in four games at the hands of the Esquires. It marks the first time in seven seasons and 20 conferences that Toyota failed to advance in the semifinal round.

Occurrences

After back-to-back wins at the start of the semifinal round in the Open Conference, the Toyota Super Diesels went down to its first setback as they bowed to Crispa, 118-133 on July 7. The Super Diesels were seemingly affected by the shocking news a day earlier upon learning the death of their former mentor Fort Acuña. The team showed up in their red uniforms with a piece of black cloth attached to their jerseys as a sign of mourning to the demise of their former coach. [3]

Award

Andrew Fields became the first recipient of the PBA Best Import Award when he powered Toyota to the Open Conference championship.

Roster

Toyota Super Diesels roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. F 6 King, Abe 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) San Beda College G 7 Jaworski, Robert 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) UE G 8 Arnaiz, Francis 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Ateneo de Manila G 9 Merced, Eduardo 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jose Rizal College C 10 Fernandez, Ramon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) University of San Carlos F 11 Tuadles, Arnie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) University of Visayas G 14 Salazar, Quirino 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Letran College G/F 18 Legaspi, Emerito 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) UE F 20 Bulaong, Nicanor 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Far Eastern G/F 22 Florencio, Danny 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) UST F 41 Herrera, Leopoldo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Wesleyan University C 1 Fields, Andrew (I) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) Cheyney State College F/C 33 Wertz, Melton (I) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) F/C 34 King, Victor (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Louisiana Tech University G 13 Talley, Archie (I) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Salem College	Head coach Edgardo Ocampo Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import Injured

References

1. "Crispa pounds Toyota". crispatoyota.blogspot.com.
2. "Crispa posts 111-110 win". crispatoyota.blogspot.com.
3. "Crispa routs Toyota". crispatoyota.blogspot.com.