Paul Lee was a revelation for Gilas during his previous stints in the Fiba Asia Cup in China and the World Cup in Spain. PBA Images
TAIPEI – The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has one other player in mind it wants to complete the Gilas Pilipinas pool, a no-brainer in Paul Lee.
That’s why the cage body will be extending the same privilege it did on June Mar Fajardo that it would wait, only on Lee’s case, SBP vice chair Ricky Vargas will try to woo Rain or Shine owners again into releasing the phenomenal point guard for national team duty.
“When we come home, I will ask Mr. (Terry) Que and Mr. (Raymond) Yu for Lee. We will reach out to them again,” Vargas said on Wednesday morning, shortly before leaving for the airport to board a flight to Los Angeles where they will meet with the Lakers and Jordan Clarkson’s family.
“We need Paul, because as we have seen in our first three games (here in the Jones Cup), we need another steady outside gunner,” Vargas said. “Jordan (Clarkson) pointed that out, when we made just 31% of our three-pointers (against South Korea on Monday night).”
Lee was lent to the Gilas Pilipinas program last year and saw action in the Fiba Asia Cup (formerly Stankovic Cup) where he nailed three straight free throws in the dying seconds to give the Filipinos a bronze medal-clinching win over China.
He then played in the 2014 Fiba World Cup in Seville, Spain and was an international revelation, prompting pundits to say that he has a sure slot in the Final 12 of Tab Baldwin’s team that will seek an Olympic berth in China later this month.
There have been conflicting reports on why Lee was not included in the list, most of them unverified.
But Vargas believes that patriotism could come to the fore in this case – as well as in Fajardo’s – that the national five could ultimately land both and give the Philippines more than a fighting chance in China.