PBA Career
Arnaiz became one of the original members of Toyota during his first nine seasons in the PBA. He, along with Robert Jaworski and Ramon Fernandez, formed the troika of the vaunted Toyota offense. During his years with the Delta Motor-owned company, they won nine PBA titles while having memorable games against arch-rival Crispa Redmanizers where he had many ferocious on and off the court battles with Bernie Fabiosa. Arnaiz became one of the most popular players on the team not only for his playing style, but also gained a following among the female fans due to his mestizo look.
He hit clutch baskets for Toyota during crucial moments of the game, thus the moniker "Mr. Clutch." He is known for his looping layups against imports and local behemoths that was impossible to block.
After Toyota disbanded in 1984, Arnaiz followed Jaworski in a controversial move to Gilbey's Gin (later known as Ginebra San Miguel). With him and Jaworski reliving their old backcourt partnership, they made Ginebra become a prominent contender in the PBA. However, he migrated to the United States and retired permanently in 1986 before he saw Ginebra win their first PBA title.
He is considered one of the most explosive guards in the PBA. He was a member of both the 5,000 and 10,000 points club having finished his career with a total of 10,292 points for an average of 16.8 points per game. He was also a member of the 2,000 assists club. He was the other half of the dreaded Batman and Robin tandem of Toyota, the other being Jaworski himself.
Read more about this topic: Francis Arnaiz
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