De La Salle University head coach Topex Robinson sees his squad as the underdog in its title defense in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball finals.
Although the Green Archers dominated University of the Philippines (UP) in two elimination round meetings, Robinson acknowledges that it will be a different story come the much-anticipated best-of-three finals rematch with the Fighting Maroons marching into battle at full strength.
La Salle defeated UP, 68-56, in the first round with top guard JD Cagulungan missing in action to rest an undisclosed injury.
The Green Archers again topped the Fighting Maroons, 77-66, in their second-round clash as they took advantage of UP not having big man Quentin Millora-Brown around. The 6-foot-10 center had to skip the game to attend his grandfather’s funeral in the US.
“Again, what’s obvious during those first two meetings was, you know, UP didn’t have a complete lineup. I guess, that’s one thing we haven’t seen,” Robinson said.
La Salle will get to test its mettle against an expected complete UP side starting Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But it won’t be an easy task.
After all, the Fighting Maroons did beat the Green Archers twice during the FilOil Pre-season Cup including the winner-take-all finals.
“Going back to our FilOil meetings, they beat us twice. That’s one thing that we have to remember. If they’re gonna be a complete team out there, they’re gonna be dangerous,” Robinson said.
“Obviously, they came here as the No. 1 team. We’re just slowly catching up at the second spot,” the second-year tactician insisted despite his squad topping the elims.
La Salle behind back-to-back Most Valuable Player Kevin Quiambao and Mike Phillips crushed No. 4 seed Adamson University, 70-55, while UP eliminated University of Santo Tomas, 78-69, for a second serving of their championship rivalry.
With days leading up to Game 1, Robinson is leaving no stone unturned in making sure that La Salle will be ready.