Game 1 hero Paul Lee. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao never lost his confidence on his ace guard Paul Lee.
And on the biggest stage of the tournament, Lee made his coach look like a genius once more.
“We knew Paul was getting back to his game,” he said. “Two to three games ago, he was already getting his groove. This is just the right time for him to get his game back: at championship time.”
Lee lit up for Rain or Shine, dropping 20 points on a 4-of-5 shooting from three, including a wide open transition trey with 51.4 seconds to go, to help Rain or Shine take a 105-97 Game 1 victory over Alaska on Friday.
“When everything was on the line, he made the big shots. He is back to his role as the leader of this team,” Guiao said.
But Lee defrayed the credit, saying that it was all a matter of the stars aligning for him.
“Lagi ko lang sasabihin na perfect timing,” he said. “We played as a team. We just moved the ball, pag may double, pasa agad. Wag na i-challenge ang press nila, and in the end, nag-work naman.”
Still vengeful from last season’s bridesmaid finish in the same conference, Lee is hopeful that this time, the Elasto Painters can finish what they started.
“Sana magdire-diretso. Ituloy ko lang yung ginagawa ko kasi malaking bagay yun oara sa team,” he said.
Guiao, though, admitted that his heart skipped a beat when Lee had a bad landing on his drive late in the game.
“There were some scary moments there when he got hurt, but I think he’s okay. He was able to go back to the game,” said the coach, as Lee drained the huge triple in the ensuing possession.
With back to top form, Guiao could only marvel at the potential of his backcourt combinations.
“I’m very happy happy and very excited about Paul’s game. I can just imagine if Paul is playing this way and Maverick (Ahanmisi) is coming up and we play them together, and then Jeff (Chan) is making his shots, and Jericho (Cruz) is able to attack,” he thought.
“I’m very excited with our backcourt. Our backcourt is exciting even for me as a coach.”