Paul Lee has no regrets over late three attempt in China loss
China’s Zhixuan Liu, right, looks to take a shot as Philippines’ Paul Dalistan attempts to block during their men’s basketball game at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
JAKARTA—Paul Lee is about to wrap up his second international stint with Gilas Pilipinas satisfied at how things turned out—despite the team falling slightly off target—and more than willing to give it another go for flag and country.
He wants another one of those late three-point attempts with the game clock winding down and the outcome very much on the line, similar to the one he missed when the Filipinos lost a heartbreaker to China, 82-80, in group play in the 18th Asian Games here two Tuesdays ago.
Just let that chance present itself again.
“That was my shot. I’d take that again,” Lee told the Inquirer without batting an eyelash on Tuesday night, just minutes after the Filipinos bamboozled Japan to advance to the battle for fifth spot at Gelora Bung Karno Basketball Hall here.
“I have no regrets taking that shot.”
Throwing up the potential game-winner just a tad hard, Lee missed becoming the hero for the second time against the Chinese, whom he beat with three free throws with no time left to erase a two-point deficit for an 80-79 win in 2014 that gave the Philippines the bronze medal in the Fiba Asia Cup in China.
“Jordan (Clarkson) was cramping up and he really couldn’t move anymore,” Lee said in Filipino, recounting the final seconds of the loss to the Chinese preliminaries. “I’d love to have that chance again.”
Everyone in the gym, from coach Yeng Guiao to defensive whiz Gabe Norwood, felt that Lee would make that shot.
“He’s hit that every time, in practices (while with Rain or Shine) and in our big games,” Norwood, Lee’s ex-Elasto Painter teammate, said. “Everyone out there (in the Gilas team) knew that he was going to drop that.”
With sure inclusion in the next Gilas team that will play Iran and Qatar in the next two weeks, Lee said that he is feeling better than ever, the knee injury that kept him out of several National team selections before now a thing of the past.
“I’m ready if coach Yeng (Guiao) calls me up again,” he said.
Iran and Qatar are the next international foes for the Filipinos, and hitting the game-winning against either would surely quench Lee’s thirst.
