THE brotherhood is, indeed, strong within the De La Salle Green Archers.
In a week of unprecedented tribulations for head coach Topex Robinson, he had each and every Green Archer backing him up.
Mike Phillips, for one, defended Robinson from immense public scrutiny and asserted how no one from the Taft side would ever have to face such ordeals alone.
Brother’s keeper, through thick and thin
There’s more to Robinson than the level-headed champion mentor people see on the sidelines.
Even in rare moments of defeat or whenever a teammate of theirs is struck with the direst of struggles on or off the court, the La Salle shot-caller always had a hunch on just what to say and how to be of help in whatever capacity he can give.
READ: Topex breaks silence, cries foul after spitting accusations
“Coach Topex has proven time and time and time and time again that he has our backs. He's a man of his word ever since his very first training coming in here,” Phillips said.
“He’s a guy who, when we win, he puts all the credit on the team, and when we lose, he takes all the blame. That's hard to do, man. That's really, really hard to do time and time and time again. He just lets us be men, just lets us be kids. We're out here playing this game we love and he's taking all the heat.
“I think a lot of times, he doesn't realize how much that really takes the pressure off of us. I'm able to play this game with my teammates, with my brothers, because Coach Topex has taken all the weight, and so, every single time I make a mistake, I make a bad play, even outside the court, he's the first one to say, ‘hey Mike, I'm here for you.’”
Lifting each other up
Both Robinson and University of the Philippines’ Reyland Torres were spared from major sanctions and only received ‘stern warnings’ for a fiasco deemed to have embodied ‘unsportsmanlike conduct.’
Such a ruling might just put the debacle to rest, but Phillips’ resounding assertion made one thing clear about the character of his mentor and brother: they, and he, will always have Robinson’s back.
“I'm not really too familiar with the situation, but whatever happens, whatever comes out, whatever's happening with Coach Topex, just know that we're behind him, and anything that has been going on, we're taking the weight off of him this time.”
Phillips added: “He's human. We are all human. Even though we mess up, even though tempers fly - we go back and forth a lot - but he's always there for us. Even at our lowest, he's there for us. Now that we're at a higher point, he's still there for us.
“If there's any statement, in all my years here in La Salle with Coach Topex, it's really that Coach Topex has our backs, and that means so much for us. A righteous man falls down seven times and gets up eight.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
