By Waylon Galvez
Paul Lee and Kiefer Ravena expressed excitement over their latest faceoff set tomorrow night in the opener of the best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series between the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok and NLEX Road Warriors at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Lee, who won his first meeting with Ravena last Jan. 14, is ready to showcase what he’s made of against the super rookie compared to him not only by basketball observers but by no less than Road Warriors coach Yeng Guiao.
Guiao coached Lee for five seasons during their time with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
“Of course excited na yung rematch eto na agad, hindi na kailangan pang mag-antay ng second conference,” said Lee, whose Hotshots posted an 86-79 win over the GlobalPort Batang Pier in the quarterfinals.
“Siyempre mas mabigat ang labanan, ang nakataya kasi semifinals na nga ito, finals berth na… a step towards our goal and that is to win a title,” added Lee.
Ravena, who steered NLEX to its first semifinal appearance since entering the league in 2014, is likewise eager to prove his growing reputation against Lee.
“I’m excited,” said Ravena, who helped NLEX sweep Alaska in their best-of-three quarters. “Knowing that we both worked so hard to help our respective teams reach the point where we are right now. We just have to find it within ourselves the energy, the hunger and willingness to win for our team.”
Ravena dropped 31 points in their first meeting, but Lee scored 12 of his 21 points in the third quarter to give Magnolia a 105-94 win.