The Wright stuff
The first dip of Matthew Wright in the Philippine Basketball Association came to an end on Monday after his Phoenix Petroleum team was booted out by the Star Hotshots in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Philippine Cup. But despite the early exit, his was still an impressive and successful first foray in the local pro league all told.
Losing in Game Two of their best- of- three quarters series with Star, Wright and the rest of the Fuel Masters saw themselves swept out of the tournament, where for the most part they created not- so- little waves.
And if you happened to have followed the spirited campaign of Phoenix in the season-opening PBA conference, you would agree with my observation that a big part of it was because of the play of rookie Wright, who undeniably brought a lot stuff to the table for Phoenix.
He averaged 17.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 12 games for Phoenix, which finished the elimination round as the sixth seed with a 6- 5 record.
More than the numbers though, Wright has shown incredible maturity in his young career, not afraid to take on the challenge when thrust to front and center.
Whether it was draining crucial shots during crunch time or raising his level play to post all- around numbers or infusing stability when things were not going for them, he had a number of those and more.
Of course, it had helped that he already had pro experience in different parts of the world prior to coming to the PBA. But still, the way he held his own against the best in the PBA in only his first conference was nothing short of impressive.
So major his play was, he is in the mix for the best player of the conference award along with the likes of June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot (San Miguel), Terrence Romeo ( GlobalPort), Calvin Abueva ( Alaska), Jayson Castro (TNT) and Japeth Aguilar (Barangay Ginebra).
He now leads the race for rookie of the year, overtaking early favorite and fellow Gilas Pilipinas cadet member Mac Belo ( Blackwater).
And the thing about 26-year- old Wright is he is not too caught up with what he has accomplished so far, seeing the need to continue to improve and work with his teammates to take Phoenix to the greatest of heights in the PBA.
“My first conference in the PBA was a learning experience. We’ll just rest for a while, both physically and mentally, and then get back to the next phase of our development. I’m not satisfied with just being in the quarterfinals,” Wright told sportswriters as he signed off for the Philippine Cup.
And with that, Phoenix stakeholders and supporters should expect better things still from Wright, who from the looks of things is one key piece it has to have if is to build further muscle in the PBA.