Gilas shooting guard Matthew Wright talks about stepping up in Marcio Lassiter’s absence.
MANILA, Philippines—With Marcio Lassiter likely to miss the upcoming Fiba World Cup due to injury, Matthew Wright’s name immediately cropped up as a possible replacement for his spot.
Wright and Lassiter share the same shooting guard position, are both listed at 6-foot-2, and have the same style of play so it seems natural for the former to fill in the shoes of the latter.
Despite the similarities, Wright doesn’t expect to get an outright roster spot for the China games.
“You can only control what you can control and the only thing we can control is who comes to practice and how hard he will work to get a slot,” said Wright during the press conference of the Fiba Basketball World Cup Naismith Trophy tour at Meralco Compound Friday.
“Whoever shows up, as long as they’re working hard and getting that chemistry down, and that’s the only thing we can ask for.”
Wright played more games than Lassiter during the Asian Qualifiers, 9-6, but logged in fewer average minutes with the Beermen guard usually taking the floor for 27.1 minutes and the Phoenix wing at 17.5.
Lassiter also had the better numbers of 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists to Wright’s 5.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists.
“I found about the injury yesterday and it’s really unfortunate that it happened, he’s been playing good basketball,” said Wright of Lassiter. “We obviously need him for his outside shooting and his defense, his experience too.”
“It’s a little bit of a letdown for the team but it just gives us an opportunity to rise to the challenge.”