Traditionally, April 9 has been a “red-colored” national holiday in the Philippines as we Filipinos commemorate the fall of Bataan to the invading Japanese military forces during the four-year World War II hostilities.
![Manny Paner [screen capture from The Freeman]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Screenshot_2433-400x200.png)
On July 23, 1973, the San Miguel Braves snapped the Yco Painters’ nine-game winning streak with an 89-81 win in the MICAA basketball tournament in front of about 8,000 fans at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Up two to one in the finals of the five-team Third Conference (Invitational) against Great Taste Coffee Makers, the tradition-steeped Crispa Redmanizers were poised to romp away with their 14th title in Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) history.
It was to be an enchanting Lovers Day get-together. Ouch, it was not to be. There were no lollipops and roses on Valentine’s Day of 1984 for players and team staff of the Toyota Super Corollas (Tamaraws) who were told of the shocking news of the disbandment of the Delta Motors franchise in the PBA after a nine-year stay in the pro league during a team gathering for what was supposed to be a happy occasion for all.
In PBA history, the multiple-conference record for the longest winning streak belongs to the 1983 Crispa Redmanizers.
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In PBA history, the Walk-Tall Jeans/Crispa Redmanizers own the longest winning streak at 19 games. It happened during the All-Filipino Conference (third conference) of the 1980 season from September 30-December 9.
Believe it or not, there have been a few instances in Philippine basketball history where a renowned athlete did not shoot the rock with his natural hand, meaning he grew up as a left-hander but subsequently turned to his right when playing ball.
This is a ticklish question: Is the authority of management, specifically a club owner, abused when it meddles in the game strategies and player substitutions of his team’s head coach?
In the opening game of the best-of-five finals in third conference (Invitational), Crispa blasted Toyota, 129-101, as the Tamaraws played without Ramon Fernandez, Abe King and Ernesto Estrada. The three were benched by head coach/team manager Dante Silverio, who had returned to the bench midway through the second conference for “not playing their best.”
More than 140 players crossed their Rubicon in shedding their amateur status to turn professional in the inaugural season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in 1975.