Cone says Thompson embodies Ginebra’s ‘never-say-die’ spirit
MANILA, Philippines — The PBA’s most decorated mentor said his electric guard is a cut above the rest. Even better, he said Scottie Thompson epitomizes Barangay Ginebra’s rallying cry.
“I’m running out of superlatives to describe him,” head coach Tim Cone said when the press asked him about Scottie Thompson, the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Most Valuable Player, shortly after the Gin Kings’ PBA Commissioner’s Cup title-clinching win on Wednesday night.
“I don’t know anybody like him,” he added. “Everybody brings a kind of different approach to the game.”
Cone said LA Tenorio brought feistiness. Justin Brownlee, on the other hand, plays with “such a calm. Joe Devance plays “with such intelligence.”
But the 25-year-old Thompson? Cone, a winner of 21 PBA titles, and a veteran tactician for three decades said that Thompson brought “that intangible, never-quit, never-give-up attitude.”
“He really exemplifies ’Never Say Die,’” the mentor added. “His energy is always there. You don’t get to see him in practice but he’s like that.”
Thompson, who was the biggest thorn to San Miguel’s side in Game Five, normed 10.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the Finals.
In the deciding game, he went on to finish with 12 markers, 13 boards, and five dimes.
“Unang-una iniisip ko lang talaga to help my team to win the championship. ‘Yun lang iniisip ko, ‘yun lang gusto ko mangyari,” Thompson said when asked about winning the plum.
The third-year cager became the youngest to win the award after a 24-year-old Jayson Castro did it in 2011.
"’Yun na talaga yung ginawa ko simula nung pagpasok ko sa team. Nakikita ko sa mga fans, sa mga teammates ko na natutuwa sila sa ginagawa ko (hustling and rebounding),” he offered. "Iniisip ko na lang na darating din 'yung scoring ko. For now, I just want to help my team win the championship.”
At one point in the series, Cone even compared Thompson to Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA.
But on Wednesday night, he may have given the biggest praise he could.
"I can talk about him for hours but he’s a real special kid. And I just think, again, he’s just scratching the surface of how good he’s going to eventually be,” added Cone, the only tactician in the PBA who has commandeered two clubs into two separate Grand Slams.
“He might go down as one of the true greats in the PBA,” Cone closed.
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