After the Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates survived a taxing double overtime marathon against the San Beda Red Lions, Mike Nzeusseu went to the far corner of the court, leaning on the pole of the rim to keep himself from falling as he sang the Awit ng Lyceum.
He had just played 43 minutes.
It’s hard to put a word on how Lyceum is doing this. After finishing in ninth place a season ago that even saw them lose to the CSB Blazers — the latter’s lone win of the season, the Pirates made a complete turnaround, running roughshod on the league en route to an immaculate 18-0 slate and booking the school’s first-ever Finals appearance.
But it would not have been possible if not all 15 Lyceans in the line-up embraced what Topex Robinson was preaching. And it all started with Nzeusseu.
“The first day that he got back from Cameroon, he just told me he saw a different team. He saw a different team that he’s willing to sacrifice his own personal ambitions just for the team,” recalled Robinson.
“He told me, I just wanna win a championship and I’m willing to submit everything.”
The 6-foot-6 Cameroonian student-athlete averaged 15.3 points, 15.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks a season ago to win the Rookie of the Year plum. This season though, his numbers are down to 11.4 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks. And it was this sacrifice by Nzeusseu that led to the others to do their part as well.
“We don’t think about who the MVP is. We just play, and then whoever is MVP is MVP. We don’t care about individual trophies,” said Nzeusseu, “We care about the team, and then the vision which is to inspire others.
“Winning a trophy is just a result of our vision.
“It takes patience. A championship is not something that will arrive and you take it right away. Coach Topex also reminds us that it’s something you have to work at. It’s not something that will be given to you. It takes patience and a lot of hard work every single day to get it,” added Nzeusseu, who together with teammate CJ Perez is in the running for the league’s top individual award.
Robinson was beaming as his big man was sharing this, proud of the maturity the team has been showing all throughout the season.
“He’s gonna trust me with whatever, and he’s gonna support me one hundred percent. Sometimes I even look weird and speak words na hindi niya alam, but he’s just supporting me,” quipped the youthful mentor.
“That’s how really special this guy is.”
Maybe the word that would best describe this batch of Pirates is sacrifice.
