Tim Cone tipped his hat to Topex Robinson as the Barangay Ginebra tactician shared the PBA Outstanding Coach of the Bubble award he won with his Phoenix counterpart.

Cone made special mention of Robinson as he received the award given by the PBA Press Corps on Sunday, March 7 for leading Ginebra to its first Philippine Cup title in 13 years.

“He did such a tremendous job in the bubble, coaching. I just want to acknowledge him, and share this award with him, and that is Topex Robinson,” Cone said in his acceptance speech.

While Cone beat out the 11 other PBA coaches for the coveted All-Filipino title, Robinson had an impressive tournament run himself.

In his first conference as head coach, Robinson guided Phoenix to only its second semifinals appearance in franchise history.

Phoenix almost reached the finals, but fell short against TNT in their do-or-die semifinals match.

“Topex did a tremendous job with his team as well. Topex, this one is for you as well. All the best,” Cone said.

Cone also recognized the entire Ginebra staff, saying the Outstanding Coach of the Bubble award is as much theirs as it is his.

“We get all the credit, the head coaches, but there is so much that goes on behind the scenes. If people could just see that, they would realize the awards really go to them and not to us,” Cone said.

“I’m really proud of our players for going through the ups and downs of the bubble, and persevering, and finding ways to continue to do forward.”  

The Press Corps feted PBA commissioner Willie Marcial as Mr Executive, CJ Perez as Scoring Champion, Justin Chua as Top Bubble D-Fender, and RJ Jazul as Mr Quality Minutes as well.

Also recognized were the All-Bubble D-Fenders unit of Chua, Calvin Abueva, Chris Ross, Mark Barroca, and Christian Standhardinger, and the All-Rookie Team of Aaron Black, Arvin Tolentino, Roosevelt Adams, Barkley Ebona, and Renzo Subido.

The Press Corps awarded the Game of the Bubble award to the winner-take-all Game 5 between Ginebra and Meralco in the semifinals.

All 12 PBA teams won the President’s Award, while the league staff behind the success of the bubble earned a special citation.

Since the coronavirus pandemic prevented the Press Corps from staging an awards night last year, the group also honored the winners of the 2019 batch. – Rappler.com