There is no doubt in Scottie Thompson’s viewpoint that there should have been a foul called during his attempt to save Ginebra in the dying seconds of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup encounter versus Magnolia on Sunday night.
“Iba-iba ‘yung tingin nila. For me, foul para sa’kin nung nakita ko ‘yung replay,” he lamented shortly after their 93-91 defeat at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Pero, ‘yun nga, baka hindi clear lane ng referee.”
The reigning champions were trailing, 91-92, with 11.5 seconds left. They went to the former MVP for the potential go-ahead bucket through a simple give-and-go play off the inbound between the latter and Christian Standhardinger.
Both men executed the play, and Thompson went straight to the cup.
However, Mark Barroca was there to challenge the shot, and it missed.
Coach Tim Cone and everyone from the Barangay were livid with what they perceived as a non-call. They all thought that the Hotshots veteran should have been called for a foul since there was contact in mid-air.
Unfortunately, the team could no longer challenge the play, as they did not have any timeout to spare. That left Standhardinger with no other choice but to foul a streaking Jio Jalalon to stop the time with 5.5 ticks left.
Jalalon split his charities, and Ginebra’s attempt to at least tie the game failed as Standhardinger airballed his contested mid-range jumper.
“Iba iba yung nakikita. Ano lang, sadly wala ng challenge,” lamented Thompson, who finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists.
As tough as it was, Thompson and Co. are just charging the loss to experience. They vow to learn lessons from it, most likely in protecting big leads next time as they squandered a 26-point second-quarter lead.
“We’re gonna learn from this. Lahat ng teams very tough, kailangang maging ready,” he said. “Of course down kami, but early pa sa season namin. But ‘yun nga sabi ko, good thing nangyari sa amin ‘to ngayon. Bigger picture.
“Babalikan namin ‘tong game na ‘to and matututo kami. Especially, the new group sa’min sa team.”
