Brother against brother in basketball playoffs

Ty's Roswell High boys (13-15) play against Greg's Berkmar squad (20-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the Class AAAAA tournament.

"That's kind of unique for the state playoffs, isn't it?" said their father, Tommy Phillips, with a laugh. "My wife and I are going to sit in the middle of the bleachers and cheer politely. We're not going to wear green for Berkmar, or red for Roswell. We'll be neutral."

"A Phillips boy will win and go to the second round; that's about as sure as I can be about the situation."

It's the first time the brothers will coach against each other since they've been head coaches. Once the matchup was finalized after the region tournament, it led to some interesting moments.

Every Sunday, the brothers gather with their parents to eat and spend time together for the day. This past Sunday, the brothers added a new twist to the tradition by bringing along several game films to exchange.

"Like lots of coaches, we do our homework in advance, so we'd been talking about the possibility for several weeks," Ty, 37, said. "Once the ball is thrown up, it won't matter for either of us who we're playing. We're trying to win, period."

Greg, 33, said the family, for the most part, avoided talking about basketball last Sunday because of the pressures of the impending game. He acknowledged this will be a special moment for the close-knit brothers, but prefers to keep the focus on the teams.

"This is about Berkmar versus Roswell," Greg said. "The players on both teams have worked so hard to get here, and this game will be about them. However, as brothers, I'm sure there will be a little more time spent watching film this week."

Berkmar looks like an entirely different team after winning only eight games last season under Phillips. The Patriots won a region championship for the first time since the 2007-08 season and appear to be peaking at playoff time.

The Gwinnett County school is led by junior point guard Yonel Brown (averages 16.8 points and 3.1 assists) and senior co-captains Ivan Harden (7.1 ppg) and Devan Campbell (6.8 ppg, 7.1 rebounds).

It's the first head coaching job for Greg, who had stints as an assistant at Norcross, Alpharetta and Kennesaw Mountain.

"We know we are getting as well-coached a team as we've faced all year," Ty said. "As another coach in Region 8-AAAAA told me, ‘You probably know this already, but Greg does a great job. Not sure how he gets them to buy in, but they do.' There is no greater praise than from a colleague."

For Ty, Saturday's game is the culmination of rebuilding Roswell's program over the past four years. It will be the Fulton County school's first appearance in the state playoffs in nearly a decade. Roswell's strength is its backcourt duo of junior Taylor Birchett (16 ppg) and sophomore Sean Brennan (10.6 ppg).

Like most brothers, the Phillips always have been competitive against each in sports, and just about anything else. They both played basketball at Lakeside-DeKalb, but never on the same teams because of the age teams. When Ty left to play at Presbyterian College, he and his father coached an AAU team with his younger brother on it. Greg later played at Oglethorpe.

"My wife is best-friend 1A, while Greg is best-friend 1B," Ty said. "We talk all the time, and I couldn't be prouder of the job he's done at Berkmar." Meanwhile, Greg considers his older brother to be a mentor.

Caught in the middle are the parents, who try to attend every Roswell and Berkmar game. If there is a scheduling conflict, they will flip a coin to decide for them.

"I guess that's one good thing about Saturday; we'll get to see both of them, even if it's them coaching against each other," Tommy said. "They are very close, but when game starts, all bets are off. They are very competitive and will be doing everything possible to win the game.

"Then, as soon as the game is over, they will be back to normal."