Paul Lee

Lee Helpless As Team Debuts

By WAYLON GALVEZ

October 3, 2012, 4:34pm

MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine’s injured prolific guard Paul Lee could only watch sadly when the 38th season of the PBA opened with the staging of the Philippine Cup last Sunday.

Having debuted sensationally as a rookie for the Painters, Lee will now be watching the tournament on the bench as he continues to recover from a shoulder operation more than two months ago.

It will be three more months before he will get a chance to play, but until then he will spend his days watching his team play and undergoing the tedius process of rehabilitation.

For Lee, it was painful mentally and emotionally to be at the opening ceremony knowing he won’t be around to help his team in the coming months.

“Excited because it’s the new PBA season, but sad because I can’t play,” said Lee.

“As a basketball player, all you want to do is play. But I do understand that I need to be 100 percent healthy and make sure that I’m ready to play when I get back,” said Lee, who will be the team’s No. 1 cheerer when they debut against Petron Blaze.

They are battling it out at presstime.

The 5-foot-11 Lee is still recuperating after dislocating his left shoulder during Game 2 of their title series with B-Meg (now San Mig Coffee) in the Governors’ Cup last July.

The injury forced him to miss the rest of the title showdown which Rain or Shine eventually won in seven games.

The day after the series, Lee underwent a shoulder operation. Doctors said Lee will need at least three more months to recover.

Lee said he does not feel pain on his shoulder but the arm’s movement remains restricted which he attributes to stiffness. He undergoes daily rehabilitation which consists mostly of stretching his shoulder.

“We’ll know by Friday what the doctor will tell us on what other things I need to do,” said Lee. “Next week, I’ll start to have workouts on my lower body, legs strengthening and also conditioning so I start get in shape.”

Lee also needs to recover his confidence.

According to Lee, his confidence level was very high during the Governors’ Cup as he played against taller imports like Talk ’N Text’s Paul Harris and B-Meg’s Marqus Blakely.

“Imagine, the guys guarding me at that time were the imports of other teams, and I was able to play good against them. So aside from getting healthy, I also need to gain that confidence when I return to playing,” he said.

Lee was tabbed by Rain or Shine No. 2 overall in last year’s PBA Rookie Draft, and made an instant impact in coach Yeng Guiao’s run-and-gun style of offense. He helped the team made the semifinals of the all-Filipino last season.

Lee’s struggled a bit in the Commissioner’s Cup where the Painters missed the playoffs, but he bounced back in the Governors’ Cup and helped the franchise to its first Finals stint.