YOU know someone holds himself to high standards when he still points out his flaws even after a splendid showing.
Matthew Wright reset his early career-high to 22 points as he sparked Phoenix’s come-from-behind 94-90 win over Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday night.
Asked about his positive performance, the rookie forward started by mentioning his negatives, particularly tallying a 6-of-11 clip from the foul line.
“I missed a lot of free throws today,” Wright said. “I was disappointed in myself for that.”
But after missing four of his first seven charities, the Gilas cadet redeemed himself by knocking down three of his next four that gave them the necessary cushion to snap a two-game skid.
“I just told myself to start from zero and just make these two free throws and luckily we did,” Wright said.
[See Wright, Baguio revive Phoenix offense in comeback win over Meralco]
The Filipino-Canadian cager stressed coach Ariel Vanguardia hardly called plays for him down the stretch.
“We just kind of flow into the motion and luckily we got some stops that led to some fastbreak points and I was able to get going,” Wright said. “Chico (Lanete) was big down the stretch, getting those steals, and we’re finally in transition rather than just playing a half-court set. That definitely got my confidence up.”
“And once you see the ball go through the rim a couple of times, the rims looks a lot bigger, so I was just lucky to hit some shots, and it was total team effort,” he added.
So is it a merry Christmas for him and the rest of the Fuel Masters, who moved back to .500 with a 3-3 win-loss record.
“Yeah, for now,” Wright said. “We’ll enjoy this moment right now and we’ll prepare for GlobalPort. After Christmas, we’re back to business.”
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