1980 Tefilin Polyesters season

The 1980 Tefilin Polyesters season was the first season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

1980 Tefilin Polyesters season
Head coach	Fely Fajardo
Owner(s)	Filipinas Synthetic Fiber Corp.
Open Conference results
Record	9–9 (.500)
Place	6th
Playoff finish	N/A
Invitational Championship results
Record	0–0
Place	N/A
Playoff finish	N/A
All Filipino Conference results
Record	5–7 (.417)
Place	N/A
Playoff finish	N/A
Tefilin Polyesters seasons

New team

Filipinas Synthetic Fiber Corporation (Filsyn), a textile manufacturing firm, was one of two new companies joining the PBA in the league's 1980 season, increasing the number of teams to 10. Among the amateur recruits of the new ballclub to be known as Tefilin were Jojo de Guzman and four former members of the Philippine team - Efren Manila, Caesar Yabut, Joselito Ocampo and Gregorio Gozum. The team will be handled by veteran coach Fely Fajardo, who was returning to the league after a four-year absence, and with assistant coach Jun Bernardino and team manager Frank Harn. In the Open Conference, the ballclub has enlisted the services of Ira Terrell, starter of the Phoenix Suns in the NBA team's last 36 games in 1976, and Charlie Floyd, a Washington Bullets' third round choice, as their imports. [1]

Notable date

March 20: Tefilin scored the season's early shocker, upsetting powerhouse Crispa Walk Tall Jeans, 79-75, for their very first franchise win. [2]

Elimination round

Open (1st) Conference Team W L GB Toyota Tamaraws 15 3 - Great Taste Discoverers 13 5 2 Walk Tall Jeans 12 6 3 U-Tex Wranglers 11 7 4 Galleon Shippers 10 8 5 Tefilin Polyesters 9 9 6 Gilbey's Gin 7 11 8 Honda Hagibis 5 13 10 Tanduay Esquires 4 14 11 Royal Tru-Orange 4 14 11

All-Filipino (3rd) Conference Team W L GB Crispa Redmanizers 9 0 - Toyota Tamaraws 7 2 2 Gilbey’s Gin 5 4 4 Tanduay Esquires 5 4 4 San Miguel Beermen 5 4 4 U-Tex Wranglers 4 5 5 Honda Motorbike 4 5 5 Tefilin Polyesters 3 6 6 Galleon Shippers 3 6 6 Presto Fun Drinks 0 9 9

  Semifinalist   Qualified in Round of Six

Roster

Tefilin roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G 5 Tierra, Marty 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Jose Rizal College F 6 Gozum, Gregorio 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Letran College G 7 Manila, Efren 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) F 8 Mariano, Ricardo 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Mapua (Jrs) G 9 Ocampo, Joselito 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) PSBA C 10 Mendoza, Danilo 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Letran College G 11 Orozco, Jose 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) UST C 14 Basco, Mario 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) San Sebastian G 15 De Guzman, Fernando 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Letran College F 21 Francisco, Jovenal 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Far Eastern F 24 Yabut, Caesar 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Mapua Tech F Sagarbarria, Amadeo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) La Salle F/C 32 Terrell, Ira (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Southern Methodist F 33 Floyd, Charles (I) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) High Point University	Head coach Fely Fajardo Assistant coach(es) Jun Bernardino Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import Injured

References

1. "Tefilin unveils team". People's [email protected].
2. "Tefilin stuns Crispa".