OVER a decade done playing pro basketball, Topex Robinson still feels a different kind of joy and excitement as he remembers his playing years, specifically his days with Red Bull and their great runs.
"We're the Detroit Pistons in the PBA then," said Robinson fondly recalling the Red Bull squad that produced three PBA championships, with grit and guts more than talent and anything else.
Red Bull should have been a 20-year-old franchise by now if not for its foldup in 2011.
Owned then by Photokina Marketing of the well-loved businessman/sportsman George Chua, the Red Bull Energizers debuted as an expansion team in 2000 and, in no time, emerged championship contenders, winning Commissioner's Cup titles in back-to-back fashion in 2001 and 2002.
As the PBA voyaged to its two-conference era in 2004, Red Bull came through with another title conquest in the 2006 Fiesta Conference, blanking Alaska Milk, 3-0, in the quarterfinals, repulsing Barangay Ginebra in a stretched-out best-of-seven semifinal series then trouncing Purefoods, 4-2, in the finale.
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In all those runs, Red Bull defied the odds and came through with shocking championship victories with their gung-ho character.
"Ang saya-saya namin kasi kami si Paquito Diaz. Ang saya-saya namim dahil galit sa amin lahat. Kami yung nasa kabilang side. Kumbaga kami yung Detroit Pistons that time," said Robinson in a not-so-recent Spin.ph story.
After Purefoods and Swift, Red Bull could well lay claim to having the most successful story from among the ball clubs that graduated from the PABL/PBL to the PBA.
Kerby Raymundo, Davonn Harp, Lordy Tugade, Jimwell Torion, Junthy Valenzuela and Mick Pennisi were among Red Bull's original players, and they embraced coach Yeng Guiao's no-nonsense philosophy that proved to be a big factor in the franchise's success.
Willie Miller, Edmund Reyes, Jay Mendoza, Anton Villoria and Lowell Briones had joined the mix as Red Bull scored its breakthrough championship versus San Miguel Beer in the 2001 Commissioner's Cup.
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NBA veteran Tony Lang was then the Best Import and champion reinforcement who would return in the next Commissioner's Cup to help Red Bull back in the finals.
In a surprise move, Red Bull ditched Lang in Game Four of the 2002 Commissioner's Cup finale, but the gambit paid off with the pair of Julius Nwosu and Sean Lampley completing the triumphant ride for the Thunder (the Energizers) versus Talk n Text.
Four years later, James Penny and a young Enrico Villanueva led the charge as Red Bull Barako claimed the third and last championship of the franchise in the 2006 Fiesta Conference.
Red Bull was bullish in its PBA stint. (SB)
