La Salle coach Topex Robinson was all smiles after the Green Archers’ Game 3 Final Four win over National University, 78-73, at Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
Aside from guiding the Green Archers to the UAAP Finals for the third straight year, Robinson was also fired up for another coaching battle against University of the Philippines’ Goldwin Monteverde.
‘It’s a good thing for me personally, as a coach, to learn from somebody who’s been there five times. That’s not luck,’ he said.
‘He really has a good staff there and a good support group, but we also have to take into consideration that we’re really happy to be here.’
This season, Robinson has had Monteverde’s number.
In both squads’ two meetings during the elimination round, the Archers won twice, but both games went down to the wire.
La Salle beat UP in the first round, 72-69, then completed an elimination round sweep of its rival with an 87-82 victory in the second round.
But instead of looking at their elimination round matchups, Robinson opted to recall their past two Finals meetings.
‘Through the first Finals experience we had, the most important thing was the respect. We really respect that team so much.’
‘It’s their fifth straight Finals appearance and that’s really huge for a program. It’s really going to be a good challenge for us as a team.’
UP and La Salle renew their finals rivalry in Game 1 on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.