The Final Score: JV Casio is The Kid, Paul Lee is The Man

People refused to let JV Casio leave. Long after the closing spiel of the 2011 PBA Rookie Draft, Casio, the number one overall pick, tried to sneak out. He couldn't. Escorted by two security guards, he walked towards a special exit stairwell, reserved for PBA Draft participants. A crowd moved with him. Fans pleaded. "JV isang picture lang please." "JV ako rin pwede magpa-picture?" "Idol pwede pa-picture anak ko kasama ka?" He stopped and said the only polite thing to say, "Sure." There is an innocence about JV. Maybe it's the boy-next-door aura. Maybe it's because he still looks like a boy. Like he's still fresh out of college. Like he just played his last Ateneo-La Salle game yesterday. If his body exposes the rigors of playing for Gilas, his face somehow doesn't. He doesn't seem jaded by the politics of sports. He hasn't been ravaged by international competition. He doesn't look wrinkled by the burden of being JV Casio. He'll probably comment, "Don't mind my problems." Less talk. More action. He seems more comfortable scoring 29 points than spending 29 minutes discussing his own circumstances. Paul Lee is no boy-next-door. Paul Lee (it doesn't feel right to say just Paul or just Lee; I feel compelled to always say his full name...Paul Lee) is an alpha-man. The main event. The lead star. The big show. When Paul Lee entered the venue for the 2011 PBA Rookie Draft, he didn't display false humility; as if he felt he didn't belong in the same room with Willie Miller, Mac Cardona and Cyrus Baguio. When Paul Lee walked in, he exuded genuine confidence; like he's been part of the PBA for years. He simply doesn't have the "aww shucks" vibe. Paul Lee, the second overall draft pick, won't play like a second placer or a timid first-year pro. Paul Lee, you see, doesn't know how to play that way. JV will never look like he's ready for the big boys of the PBA; thanks to droopy shoulders, small steps and shortish limbs. Mukha siyang masasaktan. Parang mapapalpal lang lagi. But as he has proven so fiercely, against all kinds of opponents, inside the battlegrounds of FIBA, on the basketball court of the PBA, JV is The Terminator disguised as a Smurf. Paul Lee will look like he's been playing PBA-style hoops since birth. Although playing for Coach Yeng Guiao, at times, is like trying to succeed in some psychological Gulag, I suspect Paul Lee will thrive, not wither, in such an atmosphere. Remember how Guiao trusted Cyrus? Guiao will have another open-court-dynamo in Paul Lee. What a combustible mix: the alpha rookie and the alpha coach. I watched JV finally leave the premises. I didn't see how Paul Lee disappeared. But I think I know how both players will enter the new PBA season. Casio will inspire. Paul Lee will amaze. One description isn't necessarily better than the other. --GMA News