The 1978 PBA season was the fourth season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

1978 PBA season
DurationApril 16 – December 14, 1978
Number of teams8
TV partner(s)GTV
Season MVPRobert Jaworski
(Toyota Tamaraws)
All-Filipino Conference championsToyota Tamaraws
  All-Filipino Conference runners-upFilmanbank Bankers
Open Conference championsU/Tex Wranglers
  Open Conference runners-upCrispa 400
Invitational championship championsToyota Tamaraws
  Invitational championship runners-upTanduay Esquires
Seasons

Executive board

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Season highlights

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  • In a special pre-season event, a Crispa-PBA All-Star series was played, a five-game duel decided by cumulative scores which raked in more funds to the PBA players' trust fund. Crispa won three games but lost by 12 points in the cumulative scoring. On February 26, Crispa beat the PBA-All Stars, 99–90, for a 3–2 victory in a series played in Davao, Iloilo, Cebu and Manila. The All-Stars lineup were Robert Jaworski, Francis Arnaiz, Danny Florencio, Manny Paner, Ramon Fernandez, Rudolf Kutch, Abe King, Estoy Estrada, Jun Papa, Lim Eng Beng, Freddie Webb and Johnny Revilla. Their coach was Dante Silverio.
  • Toyota Tamaraws wins the All-Filipino title and their fourth championship, winning in four games over newcomer Filmanbank, which reach the finals in their maiden year.
  • In late September, the Toyota Tamaraws with imports Bruce "Sky" King and Carlos Terry, defeated the national teams of Yugoslavia and Canada in exhibition match prior to the World Basketball Championship held in Manila, an event Yugoslavia tops and saw Canada placing fifth. [1]
  • U/Tex became the first team to break the monopoly of titles by Toyota and Crispa by winning the Open Conference crown via 3–0 sweep over Crispa 400s. The Wranglers were coach by Tommy Manotoc and reinforced by Glenn McDonald and Byron "Snake" Jones.
  • Toyota won their second title of the season by winning the invitational championship against Tanduay Esquires for their 5th PBA crown. [2]

Opening ceremonies

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The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Team Muse
Crispa Redmanizers Meg Paris
Filmanbank Regina Prada
Great Taste Discoverers Vilma Santos
Honda Wildcats Maria Pilar Menendrez
Royal Tru-Orange Mary Massab (Miss Magnolia)
Tanduay ESQ Maja Bambi Arambulo (Binibining Pilipinas)
Toyota Tamaraws Charo Santos and Dianne Jose
U/Tex Wranglers Monette Arquiza

Champions

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Individual awards

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Cumulative standings

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Team GP W L PCT
Toyota Tamaraws 55 40 15 .727
Crispa Redmanizers/400s 54 35 19 .648
U/Tex Wranglers 44 27 17 .614
Tanduay Esquires 55 24 31 .436
Royal Tru-Orange 28 12 16 .428
Filmanbank 42 16 26 .381
Honda Wildcats 28 8 20 .285
Great Taste Discoverers 28 5 23 .178

References

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  1. ^ "Crispa's kingdom collapses". The Manila Times Online.
  2. ^ "Looking back:The PBA's history". Manila Standard.