“Ramdam ko na yung bugbog.”
For Ginebra guard Scottie Thompson, the physicality of being locked down and being defended by any means by the opposing teams is starting to take its toll on him.
Thompson’s rebounding skills have always been put into the limelight for some time now ever since his rookie year. For the 2017 Philippine Cup, his highest output was 17, which he earned against the Purefoods Star Hotshots last Christmas of 2016.
The 23-year-old then followed it up with a couple of another noteworthy outings. Against Meralco Bolts and Blackwater Elite, Thompson collared 16 and 15 boards, respectively, with both games favoring the Barangay.
As the sophomore guard consistently imposes his will on the rebounding department, teams have now put it into notice, now doing all they can — by any means — to contain the two-way hustler.
“Talagang every cut, talagang bina-bump nila ako, pisikal sila sa akin,” admitted the Perpetual Altas alumnus.
But for him, Thompson does not see the need to tweak facets of his game, even if he has now become a marked man. His style of play will always be the same, according to the 6’1″ combo guard.
“Ako naman, ready lang ako lagi. Hindi magbabago ang game ko. Stay focused pa rin,” said the Davao Del Sur-native.
The NCAA Season 90 Most Valuable Player may be feeling all the pain and all the other physicality thrown at him, but his stats state otherwise.
In Ginebra’s 90-80 victory over NLEX Road Warriors that helped them qualify into the quarterfinals, Thompson scored 11 points, grabbed eight boards, and dished out nine dimes — almost another triple-double.
And Thompson hadn’t even been aware of his output tonight.
“Nine [assists]? ‘Di ko alam,” said a surprised Thompson. “Unang-una, lahat ng pasa ko hinahanap ko si Kuya LA, kasi mainit siya. Kada push ko ng bola, talagang pumupunta ako sa side niya. Pero sabi niya rin, pag naka-deny, sa akin. Minsan, hindi sila naghe-help sa amin, so dine-dire-direcho.”
“‘Di ko talaga alam na ganoon pala ang stats ko.”
There are no qualms regarding Thompson’s aggressiveness when it comes to picking rebounds and distributing the ball. However, one questionable facet of Thompson’s offense is his shooting.
Though he can achieve double-digit scoring outputs, Thompson is not the type to be aggressive scoring-wise. But for him, it is one aspect of his game that he never forces, saying that he is taking it on a gradual basis.
“Hindi madali kasi unang-una, ang daming scorers sa amin, so gusto ni Coach Tim na maging aggressive din ako sa opensa. Dinadahan-dahan ko, di ko naman minamadali.
“Ang sa akin lang, yung game ko, sa hustle play talagang hindi ko babaguhin yun. Ia-add ko na lang yung aggressiveness sa offense,” explained Thompson.
Once his aggressiveness in scoring becomes fully developed, Thompson has a tendency to post Russell Westbrook-numbers. Thompson points out that it is a daunting task, but was quick to iterate that nothing is impossible.
“Mahirap yun pero wala namang imposible pag-trabahuhan lang tsaka sana healthy lang lagi,” said Thompson.
