Matthew Wright. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Matthew Wright may be one of the newest faces in Gilas Pilipinas but he faced opponents he was really familiar with when the national team took on Malaysia on Sunday in the 2017 Seaba Championship.
Wright spent a year in Malaysia as he suited up for the team in the Asean Basketball League.
“It was good to see (Choo) Wei Hong out there as the main guy,” Wright said, calling out one of his former teammates with the Westports Malaysia Dragons in the ABL.
“He worked hard and we used to go at it in practice. I’m happy to see that he’s improved.”
Though Wright admitted it was nice seeing his old buddies here in Manila, he made it clear he was all business during the Philippines’ 106-51 rout of the Malaysia.
The Fil-Canadian tallied 12 points on 2-of-4 shooting from threes to help Gilas stay unbeaten after three games and keep Malaysia winless.
“I just didn’t really feel anything. It was just another game for me. I do cherish that we did win a championship last year, but this is a new year and I have a new team so I have different priorities, different focus now.”
With Gilas taking a break on Monday, Wright said that he’s hoping to squeeze in some time in his packed schedule to take care of his Malaysian friends, the same way the visitors did when he was in Kuala Lumpur.
“I’ve been meaning to take those guys out. They were very hospitable to me when I was in Malaysia so now that they’re in my home country, I should return the favor,” he said.