Paul Lee. PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — He showed flashes of his old lethal self, and by the end of the night, Rain or Shine guard Paul Lee had notched a new career best.
He made a conscious effort to bring back the aggressiveness, which had him so effective in the past for the Elastopainters, and Lee was rewarded with a clutch 26-point performance.
“Coach talked to me after our last game and said that he was looking for my aggressiveness,” Lee told reporters in Filipino after the 86-83 win over San Mig Coffee.
“When I drive hard, I get a lot of options and I can create opportunities for my teammates, and it worked well today for us.”
Lee delivered the killer triples for Rain or Shine in the last three minutes of the match, including a tough trey off-the-glass with the shot clock winding down.
Head coach Yeng Guiao called that backbreaking triple from his prized guard their “biggest break” as it gave then a five-point breather entering into the end game.
“I didn’t think that would go in like that. I just thought I’d add more arc to my shot, so I got lucky,” Lee said with a smile
It was his best game of the season so far as the former rookie-of-the year was far from dominant at the start the PBA Philippine Cup.
And even he wondered why.
“I was asking myself how come I could drive against anyone before in my conference, so I put that in my head and I try to execute it every game,” Lee said.
Lee heaved a sigh of relief as he finally got over the hump, hoping it could be a start of a more productive showing for the Elastopainters.
“I feel relieved,” Lee admitted. “This is the game that coach [Yeng] is really expecting of me.”
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