Paul Lee Mr. Hotshot

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Alex Compton always tries to put something comical into a conversation, whether it’s before a game, after a loss, or whenever you bump into the jovial Alaska coach.

“He’s welcome to join our team anytime,” Compton says of Star’s superstar guard Paul Lee, aware that it’s once in a blue moon a blue-chip talent like Lee becomes available for a trade in the PBA. “Is he available?”

Star jumped at the rare chance in the off-season, when Rain or Shine let go of Lee in exchange for James Yap, the Hotshots’ former two-time MVP.

In just six games with the Hotshots, Lee has seamlessly slipped into the role of Star’s franchise player—something which Compton and Yeng Guiao, Lee’s former coach at Rain or Shine, believe is just right for a player of Lee’s caliber.

But what makes Lee, the slippery, cerebral sentinel from Tondo, Manila, tick?

Guiao may have all the answers, having handled Lee in his first six seasons in the PBA and knowing where the former University of the East King Warrior came from.

“He has very humble beginnings,” Guiao says. “His personal story has attracted people to him. They want to find out what Paul Lee is all about. And coming from Tondo, people can relate to his story.

“His [monicker], ‘Angas ng Tondo,’ is a perfect fit for him. On the court, he has the swagger, the angas, but not the arrogance. He has never been snobbish, especially to the fans. He is very good to his fans.”

The 6-foot Lee averages a shade over 15 points, more than five rebounds and three steals for the Hotshots—numbers very close to the MVP range. He has become the soul and face of the Star squad with the departure of the popular Yap.

Guiao believes that Lee’s transfer to Star could shove him closer to an MVP trophy very soon.

“His new team will try to maximize his talent,” Guiao says. “Our system [at Rain or Shine] didn’t call for that because I wanted to develop the other players for the future of the team. Had I played him 35 to 40 minutes [a game] he would have overwhelmed the other players around him because of his talent.”

The way Hotshots coach Chito Victolero has used him will, no doubt, seal Lee’s superstar status in the league. And that is, if he still isn’t one yet.

“He has that potential,” says Guiao, one of Lee’s principal wedding sponsors who now coaches the NLEX Road Warriors. “With another team, he can raise his game to another level because he will have the minutes to do it. It just didn’t happen with us at Rain or Shine.”

Guiao says success never comes easy in the PBA for top players like Lee who, despite his natural talent, toils to keep his edge like the other superstars before him.

“As good as he already is, he works really, really hard,” says the fiery taskmaster who won two titles with Lee at Rain or Shine. “He is the first person in the gym and he is always the hardest-working person in the gym. It’s a common trait of superstars.”

Compton has never had the luxury of working closely with Lee, but has been watching the stocky dynamo long enough to know what he is talking about.

“First of all, if I knew exactly what makes Paul Lee tick, we would be able to scout him better and hopefully stop him,” says Compton, himself a crack guard during his heydays in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball League and played as an import with Rain or Shine before Lee joined the team.

“I can describe his strengths and the things that impress me about him outside of the obvious. And the obvious is this: He can shoot the three from deep off a ball screen, jab step, down screen, or dribble move.

“He can penetrate to the basket and finish off on either side, and he can do so while taking contact. He can also create for his teammates off his penetrations and get them open shots. He is a physical defender and I think those are the obvious.”

Apart from the obvious, Lee possesses qualities that are not lost on fine bench strategists like Guiao and Compton, traits that make good players great and the great ones immortal.

“Paul is very intelligent, and having that kind of intelligence to go with his ability to play is very rare,” Guiao says. “He can read every situation on both ends. He may look slow and lazy at times, but you can never get ahead of him. It’s Paul thinking when he looks slow and lazy, and that makes him very dangerous.”

Compton says Lee is one cool, tough cat on the court.

“He has extreme mental toughness and I believe his numbers go up in big games and at big moments,” the Alaska mentor says. “He never ever looks rushed or out of control. It looks like Paul is always in control and plays at the pace he wants to play. Very few players in any league around the world have those traits, and Paul has them.”

Guiao and Compton talk with genuine joy in describing Lee, an opponent for the long haul, an adversary for their respective teams’ championship aspirations.

When opposing coaches say nothing but good words in describing a player, that man is obviously a good guy, a great ambassador of the league and of the game in general.

And that’s what makes Paul Lee really tick.