Head coach Topex Robinson and his La Salle Green Archers now turn their attention to Game 2 of their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball finals series against the UP Fighting Maroons.
Despite coming in as the favorites, the La Salle Green Archers found their backs against the wall as they fell to a 0-1 hole against the UP Fighting Maroons to open the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball finals at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
The Archers on Sunday dropped Game 1 against the Fighting Maroons 65-73, which was marked by UP’s tightened second half defense that shut down the defending champs’ offense for the final half of regulation.
Following the game, La Salle head coach Topex Robinson could only tip his hat off to the Fighting Maroons as they finally penetrated through the Archers’ title-winning system.
“Well again, they wanted it more than us,” Robinson said in a short post-game press conference. “They did a lot of good things defensively as well, and they played well as a team. And again, we just need to get back and try to learn, try to get back for Game 2.”
All in all, UP limited the Archers to 24 points on a 30.6 percent (11-of-36) shooting clip in a second half that also saw reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao be held to one point and 0-for-6 shooting. But while acknowledging their lapses, Robinson knows that Game 1 will only make his Archers better ahead of their crucial Game 2 clash against the Diliman-based side.
“At this point, it’s just a matter of us really learning from this experience. I mean, the only thing that I told the team is there’s a reason that this is a series, you don’t win a championship by just winning one game. You need to win two games, so we still have a chance, we’ve been in this situation before,” Robinson reflected.
Robinson also shared that his players are also keeping a positive mindset heading into Game 2, assuring that their united front remains strong in their attempt to give their title defense a much-needed lifeline.
“The good thing about the team in the dugout was that nobody was blaming nobody. Nobody, we’ve gone this far because of how we really became a united front and we will not let any negativity get in our way. We will play this championship the way we should play: as a big family,” said Robinson.
“Hindi naman palaging flowers and rainbows ang makikita mo eh, you’re gonna go through those rough patches. It’s just going to define us as a team, as long as we always do it right, we play right and we honor this game we love and it’s always been good to us.”
Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday, December 11 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, where the Archers will seek to force a do-or-die Game 3 against UP. While it’s a similar situation to their Season 86 title run, Robinson refuses to rely on such familiarities ahead of Wednesday’s game.
La Salle also fell to a 0-1 deficit against UP in last season’s finals series, only to snatch Games 2 and 3 to clinch their first title under the Topex Robinson era. However, the champion mentor emphasized that it’s a different core now, with a total of six players departing the Archers’ den ahead of Season 87.
“We don’t look back at the past because that’s done and over with. If we thought of that, obviously UP has thought of that as well, that they lost, they won Game 1 [in Season 86]. We just have to let things go and focus on what we have. The players are different now and we have a younger team and the team that played last season was gone and moved forward,” said the champion mentor.
Rather than familiarity, Robinson stressed that his Archers’ competitiveness will be the key to giving their title defense a shot in the arm on Wednesday.
“Samin, we just have to slug it out, ‘yun lang naman masasabi namin eh. We just have to make sure that we will give ourselves a chance to win. As bad as we played, [Game 1] still boiled down to a few possessions. They [UP] did a lot of good things defensively, and credit goes to them, they came in prepared,” he said.
Robinson added, “Again, we’re excited. We just have to lick our wounds and try to recover from this, it’s just going to make us better, even better moving forward.”
Banner image courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.