Alonzo Gee quickly flexed his NBA pedigree in his PBA debut with the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters on Friday evening.
The veteran cager made it a rough time for the Columbian Dyip as he exploded for 45 points — including 16 in the third quarter alone — on top of nine rebounds, six steals, and two blocks.
But Gee could not celebrate his impressive debut since his Fuel Masters lost, 104-106.
“We didn’t win. I’d rather win. I’d take zero points with a win any day,” he said after the defeat at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“It didn’t go as planned. We wanted to win the game but came up short.”
Phoenix Pulse actually had chances in the match, as it overcame a 14-point third quarter deficit thanks to Gee, then took an 83-79 lead with 9:47 remaining in the game.
Unfortunately for them, Columbian regained its bearings behind Khapri Alston, CJ Perez, and Rashawn McCarthy.
But for Gee, this is a game which he and the Fuel Masters could build on from as they head to their last three games of the eliminations, which could dictate their fate for the playoffs.
Phoenix Pulse is currently second to the last in the team standings, as its win-loss record dropped to 2-5.
“We just gotta build off this game — we got three more games left,” said the 32-year-old swingman.
“We gotta take it one game at a time, we gotta win out to try and make it to the playoffs.”
Fortunately for Gee, the Fuel Masters’ next match is on November 6 versus Magnolia. The long break will hopefully give him enough time to adjust to his team.
“I’ve only had a few practices.
“We got twelve days off. I’m gonna have a lot of practice time to learn. I’m still not adjusted to the time zone here yet, [so] just get a little bit more comfortable,” he said.
