PBA GovCup Finals: With or Without Lee

Can RoS win without Lee?

"We will win this series with or without Paul Lee."

These were the ever-defiant, fighting words of the upstart Rain or Shine Elastopainters' head coach Yeng Guiao when asked about his team's chances of winning the title minus Rookie of the Year race leader Lee who re-dislocated his left shoulder (an old injury that hasn't gotten any better).

Well, what else did you expect him to say? To call it a day, tuck his tail between his legs and go home? To burst whatever remaining bubble of confidence is left on a team that faired miserably last season post-Sol Mercado and pre-Lee?

While some fans are lost in the Coach Yeng calling out the referees just like his BMeg Llamados counterpart Coach Tim Cone did after Game 1, that's not the real issue here. Both coaches are simply working the referees and putting the onus on the stripes to make some more calls that go their way. That's nothing that should cause Twitter-heads to go nuts. Every coach does it, more so in the championship series.

The real issue here is Lee's injury. Will he be able to come back, and at what percentage? How strong will that shoulder be given his physical, "no-frills yet drive hard to the hoop" game and "protect the ball with your body" mentality? There's a huge possibility that Lee doesn't come back (it's only his rookie season, RoS will need him for the long run), and even if he does, he'll only be a liability defensively because he'll look to protect himself (which is only natural).

With Lee (pre-injury)
- All-around threat on offense; makes good reads, rarely turns the ball over, knows when to drive/ take jumpers/ dump the ball inside

- Draws defenders to him whenever he drives to the paint; either kicks the ball out to a wide open shooter on the opposite side of the floor (usually Jeffrei Chan), makes the strong lay-up and/ or gets the and one

- Llamados are forced to play big at PG to match Lee's strength and block his court vision-- Villanueva and Simon. Urbiztondo has been cancelled out because of Lee's size, and Barroca's weaknesses has already been exposed early in the conference by the high IQ "Angas ng Tondo"

- Poise, savvy and composure- there are a lot of unheralded veterans on this team but they are workhorses rather than leaders. The problem with Norwood is that he just doesn't fit the PG mold with his unpredictable forays and And1 type dribbling skills. The confidence from his teammates isn't there. That's the difference between, say, having a PG like Bal David and an Olsen Racela. One guy tries hard but is clearly limited, the other guy you can just trust will make the correct read every single time. Lee is the team's rock at the PG position-- rarely panicking, Norwood is not.

Without Lee
- Gabe Norwood plays more PG. Sigh. Hope he just keeps it simple and make the correct passes.

- TY Tang comes off the bench, spreads the ball, goes for his usual pull up Js from the free throw line, plays gritty defense but won't match buzzkill Mark Barroca or be big enough to prevent Josh Urbiztondo from taking threes

- Chan will have a tougher time finding himself open since his backcourt buddy (Norwood or Tang) won't be much of an offensive threat

- The Llamados settle down defensively, because no one else other than Elastopainters' import Jamelle Cornley will be able to dribble-drive and draw them all inside.

- The Llamados will now also be able to play their PGs- Barroca, Urbiztondo, Jonas Villanueva and even PJ Simon. The Elastopainters will (and should) respond with a trap/pressure defense, but they won't be able to sustain it for a full 48 minutes.

- More minutes with the ball for Ronjay Buenafe. It's now or never with this guy. High time to reward Coach Yeng and co. for all the trust they instilled in the fat version of Lordy Tugade.

Lastly, this is the right time for all of the Elastopainters to regroup and prove to the world that they deserve to be in the PBA GovCup Finals. Now is the time for Norwood to prove this writer wrong and show that he is The Franchise for the Elastopainters. Chan needs to solidify his "elite player" campaign with a rousing performance from Game Three onwards, Cornley needs to dominate the boards as he is still the most physically gifted big on the floor for both teams.

PS

What this writer hates about the injury to Lee is that not only does it rob us of a great series overall, but a possible Marc "Pinoy Sakuragi" Pingris on Lee come maybe a Game 5 or 6 when all the marbles are at stake. Peste.