La Salle coach Topex Robinson in the Filoil preseason Cup final. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—During the dying seconds of the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup Finals, La Salle players had the chance to bow their heads and walk back to the locker room to keep their emotions in check.
After all, losing the most important game of the season (or the preseason, in this case), must pack an emotional punch.
Yet coach Topex Robinson urged the Green Archers to stay on the court and watch the University of the Philippines celebrate its convincing 87-76 victory over them.
“What’s important for us is the feeling and the experience. That’s why we stayed there until the final (buzzer) because we want to know what it feels like to win a championship,” Robinson explained.
“I told them, ‘you can not walk away from this.’ No matter what, they’ll face UP again anyway, so why not learn from this and enjoy it?”
The Green Archers tried to put up a good fight against Fighting Maroons. They had an opportunity to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter after being down by as much as 21, but it all came to a halt when Robinson was slapped with a technical foul at the 2:55 mark of the final frame.
La Salle Green Archers in the Filoil Preseason Cup –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
What could have been a comeback run from a 73-82 disadvantage vanished in tothin air for La Salle, thanks to three successful free throws by UP skipper CJ Cansino to give them an insurmountable 85-73 lead.
Robinson, though, d took full responsibility–not just for the incident but for the defeat as a whole.
“It’s always going to be my responsibility. It was my fault. Just like what I always say, my players did what they were supposed to do but I wasn’t the better coach this afternoon and that’s just part of it.”
Before entering the preseason’s finalè, the Taft-based squad held an undefeated record of 11-0. That, however, was not enough to satisfy the newly-minted coach, formerly from the PBA’s Phoenix LPG Fuel Masters.
“I don’t care about the 11 wins. What’s important is that it kept us grounded… This just means we have a lot of work to do. That’s the most important thing, the learning,” he clarified.
There is no rest for the weary, as the saying goes, as Robinson’s wards will go back to action 24 hours later when they begin the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Finals series against Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda at Ynares Sports Center, Pasig.