1981 PBA season

1981 PBA season
Duration	March 8 – November 28, 1981
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	MBS
Season MVP	Bogs Adornado (U/Tex Wranglers)
Open Conference champions	Toyota Super Diesels
Open Conference runners-up	Crispa Redmanizers
Reinforced Filipino Conference champions	Crispa Redmanizers
Reinforced Filipino Conference runners-up	U/Tex Wranglers
Seasons
← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 PBA season was the seventh season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Board of governors

Executive committee

• Leopoldo L. Prieto (Commissioner)
• Domingo Y. Itchon (President, representing YCO-Tanduay)

Teams

Team	Company	Governor
Crispa Redmanizers	P. Floro and Sons	Virgilio A. Dalupan
CDCP Road Builders	Construction Development Corporation of the Philippines	Roberto S. Cuenca
Finance Funders	Finance Inc.	Emerson Coseteng
Gilbey's Gin Tonics/St. George Whiskies	La Tondeña Incorporada	Carlos Palanca III
Great Taste Coffee Makers	Consolidated Foods Corporation	Porfirio G. Zablan
San Miguel Beermen	San Miguel Corporation	Leonardo M. Guinto
Tefilin Polyesters	Filipinas Synthetic Fiber Corporation	Frank R. Ham
Toyota Super Corollas	Delta Motor Corporation	Ricardo C. Silverio, Jr.
YCO-Tanduay	Elizalde & Company Tanduay Distillers, Inc.	Domingo Y. Itchon
U/Tex Wranglers	Universal Textile Mills	Walter Euyang
	Canlubang Sugar Estate	Harold Hoffman

Season highlights

• Instead of the usual three-conference format, the season was shortened to two conferences to give way for the Philippines' hosting of the SEA Games in Manila. ^[1]
• Rivals Toyota and Crispa played in the finals for the 10th and what turn out to be the last time during the PBA Open Conference championship series. The Super Diesels finally ended a string of three runner-up finishes from last year by winning against the Redmanizers in five games.
• Toyota import Andrew Fields became the first recipient of the PBA Best Import Award.
• William "Bogs" Adornado of U/Tex Wranglers won his 3rd Most Valuable Player Award.

Champions

• Open Conference: Toyota Super Diesels
• Reinforced Filipino Conference: Crispa Redmanizers
• Team with best win–loss percentage: Toyota Super Diesels (29–14, .674)
• Best Team of the Year: Crispa Redmanizers (4th)

Open Conference

Elimination round

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	San Miguel Beermen	14	4	.778	—	Semifinal round
2	U-Tex Wranglers	14	4	.778	—
3	Crispa Redmanizers	13	5	.722	1
4	Toyota Super Diesels	12	6	.667	2
5	Tefilin Polyesters	10	8	.556	4
6	CDCP Road Builders	10	8	.556	4
7	Gilbey's Gin	7	11	.389	7
8	Finance Funders	5	13	.278	9
9	Presto Fun Drinks	4	14	.222	10
10	YCO-Tanduay	1	17	.056	13

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Semifinal round

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Toyota Super Diesels	5	1	.833	—	Advance to the Finals
2	Crispa Redmanizers	4	2	.667	1
3	U-Tex Wranglers	2	4	.333	3	Proceed to third place playoff
4	San Miguel Beermen	1	5	.167	4

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Finals

Main article: 1981 PBA Open Conference finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
(1) Toyota Super Diesels	3–2	(2) Crispa Redmanizers	123–116	124–126	116–126	116–98	103–97

• Best Import of the Conference: Andrew Fields (Toyota)

Reinforced Filipino Conference

Elimination round

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Crispa Redmanizers	7	2	.778	—	Quarterfinal round
2	Toyota Super Diesels	7	2	.778	—
3	U-Tex Wranglers	6	3	.667	1
4	Presto Fun Drinks	5	4	.556	2
5	YCO-Tanduay	5	4	.556	2
6	Tefilin Polyesters	5	4	.556	2
7	CDCP Road Builders	4	5	.444	3
8	Finance Funders	3	6	.333	4
9	San Miguel Beermen	2	7	.222	5
10	St. George Whiskies	1	8	.111	6

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Quarterfinal round

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	U-Tex Wranglers	4	1	.800	—	Semifinal round
2	Crispa Redmanizers	3	2	.600	1
3	YCO-Tanduay	3	2	.600	1
4	Presto Fun Drinks	3	2	.600	1
5	Toyota Super Diesels	2	3	.400	2
6	Tefilin Polyesters	0	5	.000	4

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Semifinal round

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	U-Tex Wranglers	4	2	.667	—	Advance to the finals
2	Crispa Redmanizers	3	3	.500 [lower-alpha 1]	1
3	Presto Fun Drinks	3	3	.500 [lower-alpha 1]	1	Proceed to third-place playoff
4	YCO-Tanduay	2	4	.333	2

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. Second seed playoff: Crispa 119–114 Presto

Finals

Main article: 1981 PBA Reinforced Filipino Conference finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
(1) U-Tex Wranglers	1–3	(2) Crispa Redmanizers	108–113	95–91	112–116	119–124	⁠—

• Best Import of the Conference: Russell Murray (Tanduay)

Awards

• Most Valuable Player: Bogs Adornado (U/Tex)
• Rookie of the Year: Rafael Sison (Presto)
• Best Import-Open Conference: Andrew Fields (Toyota)
• Best Import-Reinforced Conference: Russell Murray (Yco-Tanduay)
• Mythical Five:
  • Robert Jaworski (Toyota)
  • Atoy Co (Crispa)
  • Ramon Fernandez (Toyota)
  • Bogs Adornado (U/Tex)
  • Philip Cezar (Crispa)

Cumulative standings

Team	GP	W	L	PCT
Toyota Super Diesels	43	29	14	.674
Crispa Redmanizers	54	36	18	.667
U/Tex Wranglers	53	34	19	.641
San Miguel Beermen	41	22	19	.536
CDCP Road Builders	30	16	14	.533
Tefilin Polyesters	32	15	17	.469
Presto Fun Drinks	43	17	26	.395
YCO-Tanduay	42	13	29	.309
Finance Funders	30	9	21	.300
Gilbey's Gin/St.George Whiskies	30	8	22	.267

References

1. "Looking back: The PBA's history". Manila Standard.