BY MICHAEL JUGADO
REELING from a painful loss in the Big Dance of the 87th UAAP basketball tournament, La Salle coach Topex Robinson has chosen to move on, saying the Green Archers will come back stronger and better next season.
“As painful as it is, we will learn from this. In the next two weeks, it’s gonna be preparation for the 88th season for us. We’re excited about it and iyon lang as long as we know in our hearts that we gave our best, there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Robinson said. “We played it until the final buzzer and we did it the way a true La Sallian should do it. We just kept on fighting.
“We don’t cry over spilled milk. It’s done and over with. It just brought the community together. You know, it’s just so nice to see the community back and that’s gonna also ignite us come next season,” he added.
The Taft-based five failed in their bid to keep the crown after losing 62-66 to University of the Philippines in Game 3 of their title series last Sunday.
Mirroring last year’s finals, La Salle also dropped the opening game of the race-to-2 battle 65-73 last Dec. 8 but atoned for it via a heart-stopping 76-75 escape in Game 2 Wednesday last week to send the championship round to a sudden death.
But Robinson’s squad cannot duplicate what it did last season when it pulled the rug from under the Fighting Maroons in the do-or-die tiff.
This time, UP had the last laugh behind the heroics of eventual finals MV JD Cagulangan, Francis Lopez, and one-and-done big man Quentin Millora-Brown.
“I take full responsibility for the loss. So, iyon ang mga bagay that kinda obviously kapag inisip mo pa, it’s done and over with. I guess the earlier, you know, you recover from this experience, the better for us kasi at the end of the day, I make the decisions,” Robinson said. “I’ll be responsible for all the decisions that I make. I have the responsibility for that if falls down.”
Robinson does not regret anything.
“I couldn’t ask for a better end for this game than just you know, playing in that crowd because you don’t know if you’re gonna be playing in the finals next season because that’s not guaranteed,” he said. “But I mean, it’s just nice to be a fan of basketball as well kaya you just enjoy.”
