PBA: Paul Lee, Magnolia hope to finally get over the hump

MANILA, Philippines–Paul Lee nodded in agreement that Magnolia will come into the new PBA season with something to prove for a pair of reasons.

The Hotshots’ 11-game sweep of the PBA On Tour has made them among the top candidates to wrest the initial offering of the 48th season, the import-laden Commissioner’s Cup, while also aiming to erase the habit of flaming out during the playoffs.

“We’ve always come up short and we want to change that,” Lee said in Filipino. “We need to help each other because we know that the teams that we’ll face are not going to be easy in this coming conference.

“Hopefully we can convert that hard work that we’ve put in during the On Tour and the offseason into this coming season,” added one of the Hotshots’ main weapons.

FILE–Magnolia guard Mark Barroca. PBA IMAGES

Magnolia has not won the PBA championship since the 2018 Governors’ Cup, and top management headed by team governor Rene Pardo indicated the desire to end the team’s drought.

Recent years saw Magnolia lose to TNT in the 2021 Philippine Cup Finals, suffer a semifinal exit in the next three conferences (2022 Governors’ Cup, 2022 Philippine Cup and 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup), losing to Meralco, TNT and Barangay Ginebra.

The Hotshots ended the 2022-23 season with a quarterfinal loss to Meralco in the Governors’ Cup.

Magnolia dominated the two-month exhibition series with some of the top players like Lee getting significant playing time while honing the skills of other role players like young center James Laput.