LEE EYES PAYBACK TIME
Still fresh in Paul Lee’s mind is how San Mig Super Coffee toppled Rain or Shine in the Philippine Cup Finals, 4-2.
Before that, the Tondo-bred spitfire, downed by injury, could only watch from the sidelines as his teammates subdued the Mixers in the 2012 Governors’ Cup.
He wants none of those happening this time.
With a hard-fought 97-94 victory over the injury-riddled Alaska in Game 5 of their best-of-five semifinal series in the 2014 PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup Saturday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, Lee and the rest of the E-Painters got what all of them have been aching for.
A shot at redemption.
“Yung laban namin ng All-Filipino – yun ang motivation ko,” he said. “Sana ganun din sa mga teammates ko.”
Lee added, “Yung mga games namin against San Mig, lahat close games eh. Ito na yung chance na makabawi kami.”
It also gave the E-Painters the unenviable task of stopping the Coffee Mixers’ Grand Slam bid.
“Yung San Mig gusto makuha yung Grand Slam. Sana ma-stop namin yun,” he said.
The tough Alaska series, Lee said, would also help Rain or Shine in their preparation, as a number of plays in the Aces’ arsenal are quite similar to those used by coach Tim Cone and the Coffee Mixers.
“Kung ano yung mismatch, yun yung pinopost nila eh. Makakatulong tong series na ‘to sa min sa championship,” he said, as he helped Arizona Reid with his 10 points and six rebounds in the series-clinching game.
Lee also keeps in mind that he needs to stay healthy as he savors the thought of finally ending the San Mig nightmares.
“Sa akin, I need to stay healthy lang and kailangan pa ring magtrabaho para makabawi kami,” Lee said.
“Itong series (against Alaska), tinrabaho namin ‘to, so ganun din gagawin namin sa championship.” (RL)
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