Matthew Wright. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Matthew Wright knew right from the start that he has some big shoes to fill as a designated Gilas Pilipinas gunner.
And in his first international tournament with the national team, the Fil-Canadian is confident to have passed his first test with flying colors.
“I’m here to replace guys like Jeff Chan, Gary David, and Marcio Lassiter, so I have to shoot with confidence. I have to shoot at a high percentage,” he said. “I’m not gonna get the same amount of shots that I did with Phoenix. So the shots that I do get, I have to knock them down.”
Wright has been a revelation for Gilas, making his presence felt first in the three 2017 PBA All-Star Games.
And his scintillating showing continued in the 2017 Seaba Championship, averaging 12.0 points on a hot 54-percent shooting from beyond the arc to go with 1.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals.
READ: Gilas’ Wright glad to see former ABL teammates in Seaba
Despite his roaring debut, Wright knows that his individual success is just a piece of the puzzle, and the success of Gilas lies on the cohesiveness of a team as a unit, something the team brandished in its triumph in the Seaba tilt.
“I’m still just one part of the team. Every single one of us hold water on the team and we each have just as equal amount of say and amount of contribution to winning this championship,” he said.
“We had a vision, we had a job that we had to do, and we did it the right way. We worked hard. We didn’t just win off pure talent and size. Every single one of us played us a collective unit. We played together, we played hard, and we played harder than any other teams.” IDL