Scotty Hopson and Justin Brownlee both turned in memorable performances on Tuesday in what has been the best double-header so far in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
The PBA’s compact schedule of six playdates in a week has turned the Season 49 Governors’ Cup into one long, sometimes monotonous coverage. Oftentimes it’s hard to keep track of who is playing who on which day, and games just sort of blend into each other.
But on Tuesday, we finally had a double-header that stood out thanks to two imports of contrasting backgrounds: a newcomer and a franchise legend. Both of them made history for their respective teams while leading them to crucial wins. It was clearly the best playdate thus far in the conference.
Hopson makes history from 27 feet
Scotty Hopson of the Converge FiberXers may be new to the PBA, but he is certainly well-traveled, having played in the NBA, G-League, Israel, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, New Zealand, and China. At 35, he is one of the oldest among the 12 imports.
It is this wealth of experience, though, that likely enabled him to calmly sink the league’s first-ever game-winning four-point shot.
With the FiberXers down 95-92 to the TNT Tropang Giga, time down to nine seconds, Converge coach Franco Atienza instructed his team to go for the kill. No game-tying triple, let’s go for the win.
“It was that one, go for the kill,” Atienza told the media after the game. “Yeah, go for the kill, and it’s just nice that it’s available for us. We’re in the record books as the first (four-point shot) game winner. It’s a nice innovation so you might as well use. If it’s available, you use it.”
Hopson received the ball, dribbled to his right, and launched a four-pointer that hit nothing but net to put Converge up by one with three seconds to go. TNT had one last chance to pull it out of the fire but Rondae Hollis-Jefferson missed on a drive at the buzzer.
Afterwards, Hopson said he wasn’t rattled at all by the situation, even as he praised his opponents.
“We got to give a lot of credit to TNT, man,” he said. “They’re a hell of a team. Rondae’s tough. I came in knowing that he’s been playing well in this league and I was looking forward to that matchup. He gave us everything he had, just like the rest of the guys on their roster. So hats off to him. I know we’re gonna be seeing him later down the line and that’s gonna be a spicy matchup for sure.
“But as far as that last shot is concerned, to be honest in situations like that, I get real calm and I get real confident and just let my instincts take over. I’ve made shots like that my whole career in terms of game-winners so this was just another one that went in.”
Aside from being the first four-point game-winner in the league, the shot capped a massive rally by the FiberXers from 17 points down, as they continue their rise from the grave of a 3-19 record last season with their second win of the Governors’ Cup.
“We’re not proud of that last season,” Atienza said. “Well, who would be? But the lessons from that, the thinking would be, we want to move forward. The feeling of pain, the feeling of hurt to not do the same mistakes…Maybe at some point being a young team composed of predominantly 90% young players, it’s too early. It’s just our third game. We’re 2-1, it’s a good start but it’s too early.
“Somehow, we surpassed our first conference standing and we tied our second conference standing, but we don’t want to be contented. We’re just taking it one day at a time.”
Brownlee has himself a career night
If the opener was a cliffhanger, the night cap between the San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel was like Clash of the Titans.
Two of the league’s heavy favorites went back and forth the whole game, before a familiar face took his team home in epic fashion.
We have grown used to watching Justin Brownlee dish out memorable performances ever since he first suited up for the Barangay in 2016. On Tuesday night, he fired an early warning shot to the rest of the field of imports by putting in a career-best effort of 51 points in a 108-102 Ginebra win.
Brownlee had only 16 points at halftime before basically going berserk in the second half, with 19 in the third and 16 in the fourth. It was an especially crucial win for the Kings, who were coming off a lethargic effort in a 73-64 loss to Rain or Shine last Saturday in Candon, Ilocos Sur.
“Guys just came out and played,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone. “They kept their poise. They came down and got good shots. They found Justin and I think that’s really key.
“I don’t think we did that in our last game when we were up in Candon. We didn’t locate Justin at crucial times. It would have really helped us.
“Just the fact of being able to come here and win this game after coming from Candon, that six- hour bus ride and that tough shooting night we had. I’ve never seen our team shoot like that before. That was really a tough night for us.”
For Brownlee, though, it was just another day at the office.
“I’m just happy to keep winning. We won the game and that’s what really matters. My teammates did a great job like Coach said.
“They gave me open shots, gave me the ball in comfortable areas. They got a lot of trust in me so I just try to go out there and stay aggressive and try to help out the team as much as I can.”
Asked if there was any added motivation facing NBA veteran Jordan Adams, Brownlee shook his head.
“The intention was just to try to do whatever to win the game,” he said. “Jordan Adams is an incredible player. He’s got a great resume. He’s played in the NBA and pretty much all over the world. I give him a lot of respect.
“I respect his game. It was a fun matchup. I give a lot of credit to San Miguel. They play as tough as always. I’m just happy. We shot better than the other night.”
Banner Image from PBA Media Bureau.