Not everyone gets caught up in every euphoric events there is, no matter how huge it is.
The decades-long Ginebra-Purefoods rivalry will always be one of the most talked-about rivalries in Philippine sports as it draws huge crowds, exemplify top-notch basketball, and most of all, brings massive hype. But for new Star Hotshots guard Paul Lee, the esteemed rivalry played on a Christmas game is just an ordinary face-off done on an ordinary game day.
In their match Sunday night at the Philippine Arena, Lee and the Hotshots were at the losing end of the Manila Clasico affair, 86-79, against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Becoming the losing team in a storied rivalry is truly a hard fact to fathom. But for the 27-year-old, nothing much should be put in another context, that it is just an ordinary match.
“It’s the same game,” quipped the newly-acquired Hotshot, who was traded by Rain or Shine to the Star-side last October in exchange for James Yap — a trade that shook the pro league.
With regards to their loss, the second pick of the 2011 PBA Draft rued the way the Hotshots grabbed much-needed boards, bowing to the bigger frontcourt of the Barangay.
“Marami kaming breakdowns sa offensive rebounds. Doon kami nayari,” said Lee as the Hotshots, despite grabbing the same 17 offensive boards as Ginebra, still lost the rebounding battle, 54-47.
Aside from rebounding woes, Star also had problems dealing with fouls as they gave up 31, with the most crucial one given up by guard Allain Maliksi that sent Japeth Aguilar to the stripe and widened the gap to six, 75-69, with 4:09 left in the game.
Lee was clearly troubled with fouls despite leading Star with 20 markers. He committed four fouls overall, with two of them coming from the third canto as he was tasked to guard Scottie Thompson. Both instances allowed Thompson to convert 3 of 4 shots in two trips to the stripe.
But for the six-foot-two shooting guard, him and Star did not see any problems with their foul trouble.
“Di naman. Normal yun na mangyari. Ready naman yung team dun,” he pointed out.
“Yung offensive rebounds lang talaga.”
Nevertheless, the five-year veteran remains positive despite the Christmas Day heartbreak the Hotshots received.
“Kung titingnan, bago pa rin ang team. I’m still happy na bago natapos ang taon, 3-3 kami. Yun nga lang, “di lang sa gusto namin na way na mangyari to end the year.”
And Lee remains undaunted despite their 3-3 record, which sends them at sixth place in the standings along with Ginebra, Alaska, and Phoenix this early in the Philippine Cup.
Their loss will only help them work on the facets they have to improve on, according to the “Leethal Weapon.”
“After 0-2, apat na game, 3-1 kami. Okay pa rin. Marami pa kaming kailangan iimprove,” voiced Lee.
