1983 Toyota Silver Coronas season

The 1983 Toyota Silver Coronas season was the ninth and final season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Return to Toyota Super Corollas in the Open Conference. The team would disband on February 1984 and its PBA franchise was sold to the Lucio Tan group of companies.

1983 Toyota Super Corollas season
Head coach	Edgardo Ocampo
Owner(s)	Delta Motor Corporation
All-Filipino Conference results
Record	5–8 (.385)
Place	4th
Playoff finish	Semifinals
Reinforced Conference results
Record	7–10 (.412)
Place	6th
Playoff finish	Quarterfinals
Open Conference results
Record	6–9 (.400)
Place	7th
Playoff finish	N/A
Toyota Super Corollas seasons

Colors

      (dark)
      (light)

Summary

Toyota defeated Crispa, 86-84, in the main game of the season's first Conference on March 6, the All-Filipino, which was shelved for two years as the Silver Coronas spoiled Tommy Manotoc's debut as coach of the Redmanizers. Toyota had a 4-3 won-loss slate after the one-round eliminations, they didn't win a single match in the short semifinal round and placed fourth behind Great Taste Discoverers.

Kevin Porter, an outstanding former Washington Bullet quarterback, was Toyota's import in the Reinforced Filipino Conference. After scoring 50 points in his debut in the 135-141 Toyota loss to Tanduay on May 17, Porter went into a slump before leaving the Silver Coronas after eight games. Former U/tex import Julius Wayne came in to replaced Porter. The Silver Coronas had seven wins against seven defeats after the eliminations and lost all their quarterfinal matches and were eliminated. [1]

In the Open Conference, former best import awardee Andrew Fields is back with Toyota in his fifth PBA season. The Super Corollas are allowed to field in one import at the time and Toyota's other import was newcomer Ralph Brewster. The Super Corollas played without Ramon Fernandez, Sonny Jaworski and Francis Arnaiz when they beat an off-form Crispa, 102-93, in both teams' first game on August 30 with the Redmanizers still showing signs of their championship hangover and failed to cash on their two-import edge. [2] After overpowering Great Taste in their second outing, they lost their next four assignments, starting with Galerie Dominique's 108-104 upset win and consecutive defeats to Tanduay, Gilbey's and Winston. Going into their last two games in the eliminations, the Super Corollas were coming off a two-game winning streak and a 136-130 triple-overtime win against Gilbey's on October 20 when they were beaten by San Miguel Beermen in overtime, 117-122 on October 23. The Tanduay Rhum Makers forces a knockout game with Toyota four nights later by winning over the Super Corollas, 131-119. Both teams finish with identical six wins and eight losses.

On October 30, Toyota seems headed into the quarterfinal round as they led for most of the way in the playoff match, but the Rhum Makers suddenly came alive in the final quarter and escape with a 111-110 win. Tanduay import George Melton partially block Ramon Fernandez' final attempt with four seconds left to preserved their victory.

Occurrences

After being booted out for the second straight conference and suffered their worst finish, seventh in the Open Conference, the Toyota Super Corollas were nearly resurrected as a team with a possible stint in the quarterfinal round when an internal problem surfaced over at the Galerie Dominique camp, the surprise team who made it to the quarterfinals, it was suggested the Super Corollas instead take the place of Galerie Dominique. The Toyota management seemed to be receptive, especially after coming off from a sorry playoff loss to Tanduay, but the jubilation for Toyota fans was short-lived as the PBA board voted in favor of giving financial assistance to the Artists.

On the same day that the PBA had its board meeting, the Toyota management called for a top-level meeting not to discuss about the team's failure to act on the said last-minute offer, but rather to discuss the possible disbandment of the team due to economic reasons within their parent company Delta Motor Corporation.[3]

Roster

Toyota Silver Coronas roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G/F 4 Loyzaga, Chito 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) San Beda College F/C 6 King, Abe 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 187 lb (85 kg) San Beda College G 7 Jaworski, Robert 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) UE G 8 Arnaiz, Francis 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Ateneo de Manila F/C 10 Fernandez, Ramon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 162 lb (73 kg) University of San Carlos G/F 11 Tuadles, Arnie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) University of Visayas G/F 13 Coloso, Timoteo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Letran College F/C 14 Herrera, Leopoldo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Wesleyan University F/C 15 Relosa, Ricky 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Mapua (Jrs) F 18 Legaspi, Emerito 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 150 lb (68 kg) UE F 20 Bulaong, Nicanor 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 164 lb (74 kg) Far Eastern F/C 88 Cordero, Edgardo 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) UST G 2 Porter, Kevin (I) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Saint Francis College G/F 3 Wayne, Julius (I) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Texas-El Paso C 1 Fields, Andrew (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Cheyney State College C 34 Brewster, Ralph (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Texas Tech University	Head coach Edgardo Ocampo Assistant coach(es) Rino Salazar Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import Injured

_{Team Manager: Jack Rodriguez / Ricardo Silverio, Jr}

References

1. "1983 PBA Reinforced Filipino Conference Stats: Gilbey's gobbles Toyota".
2. "Toyota downs Crispa". crispatoyota.blogspot.com.
3. "Trivia on Big J". Sports Flash issues.