Marcus Lee of the San Miguel Beermen had a most forgettable debut in the PBA against the Titan Ultra Giant Risers, finishing with only 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in 24 ineffective minutes. In fact, the Beermen played their best without their reinforcement, who looked out of his league in his first-ever official PBA game.
Lee did better on Wednesday against the Converge FiberXers, tallying 10 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks. He also found Marcio Lassiter open in the corner for a massive triple with 39 ticks left to give San Miguel a 99-95 lead. And this time, he was on the floor for over 37 minutes as he found ways to help the Beermen—even without putting points on the board.
Marcus Lee Vowed to Bounce Back for the Beermen
It turns out Marcus Lee promised that his stinker against Titan would be his last—and Leo Austria is just happy his import came through.
“After last game, he approached me and coach Gee and told us, ‘Coach, next game, what happened last game will never happen again.’ That’s what he promised to us,” Austria recounted of Marcus Lee’s promise. “But, of course, you can see it naman na he’s still adjusting to the kind of game that we have and medyo nawawala pa rin siya. But I’m so happy sa kaniyang ginawang defense tonight, and almost triple-double siya…”
Indeed, Marcus Lee still looked lost at times. But the fact that he wasn’t as bad as he was against Titan Ultra should at least encourage Austria, who hinted at the possibility of using his import to bring the ball up court to ease the pressure off his guards.
But that could be something for another day. At least for now, Marcus Lee gave San Miguel enough positives and maybe bought himself a game or two more to find his stride.
