In a crucial Game 5 that was up for grabs in the last few minutes, Scottie Thompson rose to the occasion literally and figuratively to give Barangay Ginebra a 3-2 lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
There has always been something about the way Scottie Thompson makes his presence felt in a PBA game. He’s never had the passing flair of Sonny Jaworski or the dazzling speed of Bal David or the scoring outbursts of Mark Caguioa, to name a few legendary Ginebra guards.
What he’s always had is a rare ability to get the crowd going with a rebound, of all things. Scottie is perhaps the best rebounding guard the league has seen since Jaworski, but whereas the Living Legend used his positioning and court smarts to grab rebounds, Thompson has mastered the art of timing his jumps to outmaneuver taller opponents.
What’s more, he is perhaps the only player who can get a rise from the crowd just by grabbing a rebound. If there’s one PBA player who best typifies the distinctly Pinoy art of grabbing a kalawit rebound, it’s Scottie Thompson.
That combined with an offensive arsenal that has improved over the years has made Scottie Thompson one of the most complete PBA guards we have ever seen. And all these traits were on full display on Sunday night in front of a passionate crowd, when Thompson soared high for three crucial defensive rebounds and hit three big buckets down the stretch to lead Ginebra to a 73-66 Game 5 win over the TNT Tropang Giga in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
The Kings are now a win away from another title, which they can grab on Wednesday in Game 6. And they have Scottie Thompson to thank for that.
“Even though Justin made some big shots down the stretch, so it was really the inspiration of Scottie that really turned the tide for us,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said. “We did not play a first good first half. We were playing the first half in like second gear and they were playing in fourth gear and we just, we knew at halftime we’d have to step it up and play at a higher gear to have a chance. And really, there’s just so much that Scottie does that doesn’t show up on the scorecard. The points and rebounds, he gets those stuff but his impact is so much greater than that and you can see that I think more today than just about any time that he just inspired the whole team.
“That kalawit rebound he had was amazing at a time when we weren’t getting rebounds and the shots down the stretch, getting the ball to the right people. It was a brilliant, brilliant game by Scottie in the second half.”
Thompson finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, but as always, deflected praise to his teammates.
“We all know it’s a grind game, possession by possession and we just don’t want to quit every single game,” he said. “I think for us we have to focus on just one game. No past, no future for us. The closeout game is the hardest game. We always talk about that but let’s see what we can do the next game.
“I made shots down the stretch but overall I think it’s team execution. Those guys moving weak side, I think that’s the key. That’s why we were able to open and no one helped.
“I’m truly inspired by the fans. It’s been a long time since we won a championship so I just want to give my all this championship and whatever it takes.”
What about Justin Brownlee?
While Scottie Thompson held the team together in the fourth quarter, it was Justin Brownlee who put the game away with two big buckets in the last two minutes. And he did it while playing through pain in his heavily bandaged right hand.
“I think he was having a harder time gripping the ball today and you can see he made some uncharacteristic turnovers when the ball was slipping out of his hands,” Cone said of Brownlee, who finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds in 45 minutes of play. “It’s like he was afraid to grab the ball hard. That’s just something he’s managing as we go.
“When you first get an injury, it hurts a lot. Usually it takes a day or two, then you really start to feel the injury after a day or two. I think that’s basically what’s happened.
“Hopefully, given another couple of days here, he can recover that a little bit and be a little stronger with that thumb. He’s playing magnificently despite that and that’s what’s really amazing at this point. He’s been such a warrior.”
Brownlee said he felt fine after the game, although he admitted Game 5 was indeed more of a struggle as his hand was hit a couple of times and he suffered a bad fall.
“The first game, I really didn’t experience anything,” he said. “But this game, I just got hit a couple of times. I took a bad fall. Just some things like that. But nothing that really bothered me too much. It’s something that I guess I just had to adjust to. But it’s fine. It’s just the same as the first game.”
Cone knows that Brownlee, at this point, is playing on borrowed time. So ideally, it would be better for Barangay Ginebra to wrap this up on Wednesday.
“We can only hope at this point,” Cone said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt he’s going to need surgery when this series is over to help reattach some ligaments onto his thumb. But he’s just going to manage his way through it at this point.
“Our trainers are working around the clock with him, keeping the swelling down, doing whatever therapy they can do for him, icing, whatever. But the bottom line is he’s just going to have to go through some pain to try to get this championship.”
Banner Images from PBA Media Bureau