For Scottie Thompson, he only wanted to have the ball. So, he hauled it down.
But the way he got the ball was just too awesome, that the Barangay rocked the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
As Chris Tiu missed a trey with 1:39 left in the game, Rain or Shine’s Reggie Johnson was already near the rim to get the miss. But the 6-foot-9 center got outrebounded by Thompson, who had an eight-inch height deficit versus him.
And when his teammate Joe Devance missed his own three-pointer with less than 48 seconds remaining, Thompson quickly read where the ball was heading, and he outrebounded another Elasto Painter in James Yap.
Thompson finished with 10 rebounds along with six points and three steals, and his efforts did not go for naught as Ginebra emerged victorious, 96-94, to set up a bout with San Miguel Beer in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup.
“Talagang tinalon ko lang ang bola kasi crucial. Ginusto ko ang bola so buti nakuha ko,” said the three-year pro of those huge rebounds of his, moments after the victory. “Naipanalo namin ang series, so thankful.”
Even his head coach Tim Cone was left in awe of the way Thompson grabbed those rebounds.
“It seemed like he was grabbing everything and jumping over everybody, jumping over Johnson, jumping over [Raymond] Almazan. I mean, my gosh, getting that offensive rebound. He makes me speechless,” Cone beamed.
“Those were the plays of the game, and I was… Joe [Devance] played great, but I thought Scottie was gonna get the Player of the Game just because of the rebounds he got, because they were all super clutch.”
But aside from his rebounding, Thompson also left a lasting imprint on defense.
Thompson defended Yap a lot in the match, and his defensive prowess paid dividends. The two-time PBA Most Valuable Player was only able to produced 10 points on a dismal 3-of-11 shooting from the field.
Given that, Thompson felt satisfied, for Yap is one of his basketball heroes growing up in Davao.
“Talagang itinatak sa amin na yung goal namin sa team yun ang focus namin. Nakuha ko ang defensive goal ko so talagang nagustuhan ko na siya kasi I think pag maganda ang depensa namin doon kami mananalo,” he said.
“But at the same time challenge din, kasi yun nga, idol ko dati back then sa province ngayon binabantayan ko na,” added Thompson.
“Nakaka-overwhelm at the same time and saka truly blessed na nakuha namin ang panalo.”
