Lee, Magnolia brace for mighty Beermen

Paul Lee. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Paul Lee is aware of the enormity Magnolia’s task ahead as they begin their 2018 PBA Philippine Cup Finals series against mighty San Miguel on Friday.

In fact, barely an hour after clinching the finals berth on Tuesday, Lee couldn’t figure out how exactly the Hotshots are going to stop the Beermen.

“If you’ll look at it, it’s really hard to beat San Miguel. The way they play, they have a strong starting five, and now, even their bench contributes. So I really don’t know how we’ll do it,” he said.

It doesn’t mean, though, that the Hotshots will just roll over and die as Lee expects the Hotshots to be on the top of their game when the best-of-seven championship series begins.

“I hope we could get one or two wins against them, or even four. We’ll see what will happen and we’re really going to prepare for them.” he said.

San Miguel should know better not to discount Magnolia, which has a good blend of young guns and veterans, who have been in this position before as a part of the 2014 Grand Slam squad.

Lee is confident that that chemistry will help them in this match up.

“We were a new team with new teammates and a new coach, and it wasn’t easy for us before we got here. And now that we’ve gotten through the semis, it’s our chemistry where we will bank on,” he said.

As tough as the challenge is, Lee knows Magnolia could give San Miguel a run for its money if it tries hard enough.

“We’ll try. It’s tough, but we’ll prepare as hard as we could and give our best,” he said.