AFTER a stellar outing in the recent Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup spiked by the Best Player and Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) accolades, the sky’s the limit for the Barangay Ginebra’s do-it-all young star Scottie Thompson.
“I think we’re just starting to see the start of Scottie’s career. He’s just going to get better from here,” Gin Kings coach Tim Cone said of Mr. Thompson, one of the vital cogs in the squad’s successful drive to its fourth Governors’ Cup plum.
Ably filling in the big shoes of injured ace Stanley Pringle, Mr. Thompson turned in averages of 17.83 points, eight rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.17 steals in 44 minutes of action per game in helping spark the team’s 4-2 conquest of Meralco.
This makes him a certified contender for the Season MVP honors and to some quarters, the new “face” of Ginebra after Mark Caguioa.
For Mr. Cone, it’s not unlikely for the 28-year-old hard worker to take over the mantle.
“He’s young, he’s just won PBC and MVP of the series. He’s deserving that way,” he said.
“I don’t think anybody in the team is going to begrudge that because he is so well-liked, he works so hard… It’s the same with Mark Caguioa, he’s such a nice guy and his teammates love him,” he added.
The multi-titled Mr. Cone likened Mr. Thompson to one of the great elements of his grand slam run with Alaska in the 1990s: Johnny Abarrientos.
“The things he does for us offensively, defensively, his offensive rebounds, they’re very similar to what Johnny Abarrientos used to do for us. He plays great defense, he’s a great rebounder for a guard and he’s such a great controller of the game and he never gets tired and always hustles,” he noted.
One of the major tactical tweaks that Mr. Cone and his staff did during the conference was “putting the ball to Mr. Scottie’s hands more” to “get Mr. Tenorio off the ball a little bit more and save his legs.”
It worked to perfection.
For Mr. Thompson, the newest feat only heightened his desire to push for more. — Olmin Leyba