WITH two of his players in big man Kevin Quiambao and graduating playmaker Evan Nelle contending for the MVP award, La Salle coach Topex Robinson has set the record straight–he wants them to fight for the plum–with the help of their teammates.
“You know what’s good about our conversation at the start of our game against UST? We kind of opened up the elephant in the room,” Robinson said. “Just like what he (Quiambao) said, I would be a hypocrite if hindi ko aasamin iyon if I’m the one who’s on that list.
“We kind of opened it up to see if there’s a possibility. Huwag na tayo mag-bulag-bulagan para at least alam ng lahat na the reason why Kevin and Evan are in the top five is because of everybody,” he added.
Robinson spoke after the Green Archers made short work of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers 100-69 two days ago for their second straight win in the 86th UAAP basketball tournament.
Quiambao, the reigning Rookie of the Year, led all comers in statistical points after the first round with 84.714 SPs, while Nelle got 74.167 SPs for third.
“You cannot have an assist if your teammate doesn’t make a basket. Iyon ang point doon. It’s just a testament of how good we are as individuals,” Robinson said.
“It’s also a challenge of how we’re gonna make that advantage of having those players individually in their gifts to compensate or to blend well with the rest of our local players.”
La Salle struggled with a 4-3 mark after its first seven outings before the Archers rose to 5-3 with the rout of UST.
“We were struggling in the first round. Obviously, everybody expected us to be No. 1 at the end of the first round, but what’s important sa amin is we kind of opened up the scenarios,” Robinson said. “If we are together as a team, those three losses that we had, we lost by a margin of four?
“Three points in all of those games? It’s just a testament of how we’re gonna believe in the system that we’re running.”
Robinson reminded Quiambao and Nelle to keep their focus on their biggest goal–end a seven-year title dry spell for the Taft-based cagers.
“Iyon ang ayaw naming mawala just because of individual accolades and just because of the pressure of representing La Salle. As long as we’re gonna have joy, joy for us is having 30 assists. Guys will really enjoy playing for each other,” he said.
“So, iyon ang mas importante sa amin, and obviously getting those individual awards, and getting those team awards that we’re gonna get.”