It takes lots of guts and balls of steel to be heroically assertive in any given pressure-filled situation, particularly during crunch time in playoff basketball.
Just ask Paul Lee, who has been living up to his “Lethal Weapon” moniker as of late in the 2016-17 PBA Philippine Cup Semifinals.
In Game 1 of their best-of-seven series against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel last Thursday, Lee’s heroics shone the brightest. With Star holding a narrow 76-74 lead with less than 30 seconds to go, Lee pulled up for a tough jumper to lift Star, 78-74, to a 1-0 series lead.
And in their Game 2 encounter Saturday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, the six-foot-one guard stepped up to the plate once more.
The Hotshots were up 87-85 with 2:12 left. Ginebra had numerous chances to come back, but Lee was too determined not to let the game slip away from Star. After Sol Mercado missed his jumper, Lee hauled down the rebound and ran to the other side of the floor.
Lee rose up next for a lay-up, and as expected, he scored. The Hotshots were now up by four, 89-85, with 58.4 ticks left. Rafi Reavis was the one who sealed the win through his charities, but the victory would not been that sure if it hadn’t been for that lay-up by Lee.
For two straight matches, Lee has proven that he is indeed the Hotshots’ hero, and a villain for the Barangay — two roles that he loves to fulfill.
‘”Di mo naman matatago yon sa player kasi crowd favorite,” said Lee on breaking the hearts of the crowd darlings.
“Ang dami talagang tao. Ganito yung mga kinds of games na gusto ng mga players.
“Lahat nakatutok sa inyo so kailangan mo talagang mag-step up at kailangan mo talagang ilabas laro mo,” added Lee, who finished with 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting and four boards.
Alongside Lee’s remarkable outings is the fact that Star have not yet won through a wide margin against the Barangay, something that they have done to their opponents in their previous games. Asked if low-scoring games benefit Star, Lee thinks otherwise.
“‘Di mo masabi na may advantage kami kapag dikitan ang laro kasi hindi naman namin sila malamangan ng malaki.
“Nakakabalik sila. Kailangan lang namin gawin yung dapat namin gawin which is dumepensa,” said the 27-year-old gunslinger.
And Lee is wary of a different Ginebra side that might show its fangs on Monday for Game 3, saying that the Barangay will lay it all out on the court in the series’ pivotal match.
“Magiging aggressive sila for sure kasi very important next game. We need to be aggressive lang din and follow coach Chito’s [Victolero] game plan. We need to stay together,” the 2016 Commissioners Cup Final MVP shared.
Nevertheless, the 27-year-old combo guard is nothing but happy for Hotshots, as they are now up 2-0 in the series — a situation that nobody, maybe even the Star faithful, had ever imagined since they are under the new system of first year coach Chito Victolero.
Furthermore, Lee believes that Star being able to eke out those two wins speaks volumes of how the team has developed their character over the course.
“Of course very happy kasi from the start mahirap. 0-2 kami, nanalo kaming tatlong sunod tapos natalo ulit kami dalawang sunod ang hirap sabihin kumbaga parang kung titignan mo pwede mong sabihin na hindi aabot.
“Pero habang tumatagal nakikita ko yung character ng bawa’t isa sa amin,” said Lee.
