1981 Toyota Super Diesels season

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

Notable Achievements

• Andy Fields became the first recipient of the PBA Best import Award when he powered Toyota to the Open Conference championship over arch rival Crispa Redmanizers.
• On September 10, 1981, Robert Jaworski reach the 500-steal mark, becoming the fourth man to do such a feat, following the footsteps of guards Rosalio Martirez and Bernie Fabiosa, and teammate Ramon Fernandez, the exploit was registered in Super Diesels' elimination game against Yco-Tanduay, where they prevailed, 125-118, to formally enter the six-team quarterfinal round.

Championship

• Toyota Super Diesels, with Best import Andy Fields and partner Victor King, bag the Open Crown, their seventh PBA title, defeating Crispa, reinforced by Byron "snake" Jones and Jim Hardy, 3-2, winning the deciding Game 5, 103-97, their last championship game was officiated by two NBA referees, Jim Capers and Lee Jones.
• Ramon Fernandez was the top local scorer for his team in the finals, averaging 23 points per game, posting his highest output in Game Two with 29 big points, and tallying 20 in Game 5.
• Toyota and Crispa wound up with a 5-win, 1-loss slate in the four-team, two-round semifinals.

Occurrences

• July 7, 1981: After back-to-back wins at the start of the semis, Toyota went down to its first setback, as it bowed to Crispa, 133-118, the Super Diesels were seemingly affected by the shocking news a day earlier upon learning the death of their former mentor, Fort Acuna, the team showed up in the red uniforms with a piece of black cloth attached to their jerseys as a sign of mourning to the demise of their former coach.

Roster

• I - Import

External links

• MYPBA.com Forums