Letting his game do the talking, Paul Lee showed little love to his former team
The realization that Paul Lee is donning new colors came to light as he faced the franchise he had grown up with, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, for the first time Sunday afternoon.
Lee himself was far from fazed entering the contest. Already a six-year veteran in the league, he shared that he did not break from his usual routine nor do anything special to prepare for this highly-anticipated tilt.
“For me, same lang naman, nalipat lang ako sa Star, kailangan ko gawin ang trabaho ko dito,” said the second pick of the Elasto Painters back in 2011.
“Kailangan ko mag-perform, kailangan namin manalo every game.”
But even if he does not want to admit it, the match-up — which had had a playoff atmosphere — got the best of him at the start of the game, as Lee struggled to find his groove and was hampered by fouls.
Moreover, the 27-year-old gunslinger was expecting to be roughed up by his former teammates from the beginning. But during the first 12 minutes nothing happened — then came the second frame.
With 37 ticks remaining, Beau Belga, Rain or Shine’s big man who had been on his side for numerous battles, gave Lee a hard foul. But Lee was quick to shrug it off because he had a ball game to win.
“Hinihintay ko, first quarter, hinihintay ko na, mali ‘yung tantya ko, Second quarter pala dumating. Medyo tiningnan ko,” he quipped.
And after struggling for the majority of the contest, Lee finally showed his “angas”, but in a different way.
As cool as a cat and as lethal as a knife, Lee knocked down the game-tying jumper with 3:27 left. He followed this up with a cold-blooded triple that gave Star a 93-88 edge with 1:54 remaining.
“Nakapag-adjust ako sa depensa nila sa akin. Sabi ni coach nung bago mag-start ang second half na kailangan namin tumakbo kasi talo kami sa fastbreak points,” he shared.
“Nung binilisan namin yung laro, yun ang gusto namin, gumanda ang takbo ng depensa namin at nag-follow ang opensa.”
To put the icing on the cake, Lee dished out two excellent dimes to Aldrech Ramos, who knocked down two triples, to seal the win, their third straight overall.
Although it was business as usual, Lee, who had been the Finals MVP during Rain or Shine’s Commissioner’s Cup run, just wanted to have the last laugh.
“For me, medyo matagal na ako sa liga na ito, di na puwede sa akin yun, hindi na ako magpapadala. Laro lang tayo,” stressed Lee, who finished the game with 14 points and four assists. “Ginawa ko lang talaga yung part ko. Alam ko kung kelan yung oras para sa ganun.
“At end of the day, sa amin pa rin yung huling halakhak.”
Indeed, his late-game heroics showed his former team what they are missing nowadays.
