San Miguel banking on new import

San Miguel Beer head coach Leo Austria is confident import Marcus Lee fits what the team needs in its title aspirations in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.

Although not known for his offense, the 6-foot-11 Lee will serve as the Beermen’s main weapon on the defensive end, given that the reigning Philippine Cup champions have enough firepower from their deep arsenal.

“He’s not an offensive player. But defensively, I think he could help a lot from that department,” the San Miguel tactician said.

For Austria, while other teams brought in tall reinforcements for offense, the Beermen’s formula is to field someone who can neutralize opposing teams’ imports, while their locals, led by menacing June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez, will take care of the scoring.

The 11-time champion coach also liked the attitude and work ethic of the 31-year-old power forward, who has immediately built a strong rapport with the locals since arriving two weeks ago.

“And regarding his attitude so far, he’s okay. He’s always laughing and has a happy demeanor,” Austria said of Lee, who went undrafted during the 2018 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft.

Lee last played for the Cairns Taipan in Australia’s National Basketball League. He averaged 6.82 points, 5.45 rebounds, 1.18 assists and 1.09 shot blocks per game.

Lee’s defensive presence will be crucial in San Miguel’s campaign, especially after teams took advantage of the tournament’s unlimited height for imports.

The field features imports listed seven-foot and above led by former NBA player 7-foot-3 Bol Bol of TNT.

“I think the average height of the import now is 6’10” maybe 6’10 and half. With the presence of Bol Bol, we know what their purpose is. They want to dominate the shaded area and what’s more, those imports can score a lot,” Austria said.

The Beermen enter the mid-season conference looking for redemption after a disastrous run in Season 49, where they missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

San Miguel tried four imports in Quincy Miller, Torren Jones, Jabari Narcis, and Malik Pope last year but still ended up in 10th spot with a forgettable 5-7 win-loss record.

The Beermen in that conference also reactivated Austria to replace Jorge Gallent.

“I hope that we’ll be able to see in him (Lee) what we’re looking for. But in the last two tune-up games, we’re happy because we saw what we expected from him,” Austria said.

“He’s not a scorer, but he can defend. Let’s see what will happen.”

San Miguel will open its bid for a second straight championship of the season on 21 March against Titan Ultra at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.