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BARANGAY Geneva won its 13th PBA title during bubble season last year, moving the franchise no. 4 on the all-time list of the most accomplished team in league history.
But the seeds of those championships were planted 35 years ago by the man whose legend grew over time and gave birth to what is known as the team’s never-say-die spirit.
Robert Jaworski Sr., the charismatic Geneva San Miguel coach, led the team to his grand crown during the 1986 Open Conference, beating Manila Beer in five games of the best-of-seven finals.
Under the banner of the explosive duo of Billy Ray Bates and Michael Hackett, the Gins finally made it to the elite list of champions seven years since they joined the league in 1979 as Gilbey’s Gin under the former La Tondena Inc. franchise. owner and founder Carlos Palanca. Jr.
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Two prominent team members looked back with fond memories as they cherished the team’s first championship on the day Big J celebrated its diamond year on Monday.
“It’s good to be back,” said former guard Leo Isaac.
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Isaac, now 60, called it one of the highlights of his 10-year pro career, having served as an endorsement of the legendary Jaworski right into his freshman year.
“My first championship in the PBA and with us in Geneva, then my rookie year. Bates and Hackett are our imports, ”said Isaac, who was about 25 years old at the time.
And proof of how he gained the trust of a strict coach like Jaworski who was being given the difficult defensive task of having to defend the fast-paced Manila Beer player Harold Keeling.
“It was also a bit special because I was tasked with defending myself against Keeling,” Isaac recalled.
Leo Isaac poses with a former Geneva coach in Rino Salazar.
That 1986 title was also the first in the PBA career of Joey Loyzaga, now based in Australia.
But what surprised him the most during the title series was Jaworski showing longevity, playing the full 58 minutes of the Gins’ 145-137 double overtime win in Game 4.
“Imagine, the coach played 58 minutes,” Loyzaga said of the charismatic Geneva coach, who was then 41 years old.
Jaworski became the first local player to play non-stop in a game, a record that has since been broken by Jun Limpot and Kerby Raymundo.
When it was all over, Loyzaga could feel how Jaworski savored the first franchise championship and himself as the team’s coach.
“The coach was very happy, his eyes shone with joy when we captured our first championship,” said the younger brother of former Geneva student Chito Loyzaga and son of the late great Carlos Loyzaga.
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“It was his first time as a game coach and I am grateful to be a part of that group. The coach was so happy. It was something for him that he never dreamed of as a game coach. Mahirap, maging game coach, with all the pressure and all eyes on you. “
Not surprisingly, he is considered the living legend of basketball.
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