Paul Lee offered no excuses after Magnolia bowed out of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the hands of Ginebra, Wednesday.
Though he admitted frustration over the fact that the Hotshots suffered their third consecutive semis exit, the star guard offered the team as a collective simply needs to learn and get better to get over that hump.
“‘Di kami maka-[get] over the hump.
“‘Yun lang ‘yung sinabi sa’min ni Coach [Chito Victolero], na we need to get better going into the next conference,” he said shortly after the 99-84 Game Four defeat at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Promising was Magnolia’s campaign early in the tilt. It entered the quarterfinals as the no. 2 seed armed with a twice-to-beat edge, which it put into good use by disposing of Phoenix Super LPG, 102-95, last December 9.
That win easily lifted the club to the conference semis, something it hadn’t accomplished since 2017 with Ricardo Ratliffe in tow as their following campaigns were marred mainly by import instability.
However, standing in their way were Justin Brownlee and the Kings, who dealt them a 103-97 loss in the elimination round last October 24.
It didn’t help that the Hotshots faced manpower woes in the middle of the series, with Lee himself sitting out basically the entire Game Three due to flu-like symptoms — unfortunate, considering that he had 24 in their Game Two win.
They lost that bout, 103-80, and eventually saw themselves suffering a gentleman’s sweep following the 15-point mauling in Game Four.
What hit Lee surely affected Magnolia’s chances in the latest Manila Clasico chapter but then again, he offered no excuses whatsoever.
“We just need to get better. That’s it,” reiterated the three-time PBA champion, who scored nine points on eight shots in 26 minutes in the loss. “‘Yun lang sinabi sa’min ni Coach. We just need to get better.
“It’s already done. Right now, I’m just moving forward. Tapos na siya, ‘di na natin maibabalik ‘yun. Again, we just need to get better [for the] next conference.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
