Stephen Holt hushed the skeptics and naysayers after setting the tone for Barangay Ginebra’s eventual Game 3 victory over TNT for the 2-1 lead in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup best-of-7 Finals on Sunday night.
The seasoned playmaker caught fire from deep and made his first six shots — including a four-pointer — for 15 points to power the crowd darlings to a 29-12 lead, putting them ahead the rest of the way for the 116-102 victory.
He went on to finish with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field alongside four rebounds, two assists, and steals in a turnover-less performance. And head coach Tim Cone felt very proud of his prized ward’s performance.
The league’s winningest mentor, after all, is well aware of the online talk criticizing the former No. 1 overall pick by Terrafirna.
“I know there was a lot of internet noise about him not playing well. He’s been playing great, you know,” he said after the win at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, which housed a crowd of 18,607 — the most in any venue this season.
Holt has been at the center of discussions across social media after barely making his presence felt in the last two games. A quick check at his stats in Games 1 and 2 saw that the 34-year-old playmaker scored a grand total of one point.
Cone, however, came to his defense, saying that the well-traveled pro out of Saint Mary’s College has never been a one-dimensional player.
(C) PBA Images
“When everybody said he was struggling, they said he struggled the last two games… I didn’t think he struggled the last two games; he just wasn’t looking for his shot,” he said. “And tonight he came out looking for his shot.
“And again, he’s gonna do what it takes to impact winning, whether it be rebounding, defending,” the only 25-time champion coach added.
He defended in Game 3 and was just as effective, especially in neutralizing Calvin Oftana to only two points after Oftana had exploded for 31 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tropang 5G’s 101-94 win in Game 2 last Friday.
“A lot of that was Stephen, especially against Oftana,” Cone said.
“He’s the one defending Oftana, [Roger] Pogoy every night, he defended [Adrian] Nocum and [Gian] Mamuyac in the last series, so he is contributing to winning.”
And it’s not just him accepting such a task; it’s him taking the initiative to pick up whoever is the “hot guy” offensively on the opposing team.
“Stephen, he comes into the timeout and says, ‘Give me the hot guy, whoever’s the hot guy, I’ll take it.’ And again, those are things that people don’t see, that he contributes and impacts winning with,” the 68-year-old lauded.
It was a two-way masterclass from Holt, which, for Cone, only showed how versatile Holt is — and how impactful he can be for Ginebra.
“If you’re just looking at Stephen strictly as a scorer, you’re not looking at the whole game of basketball. He’s a lot more than just being a scorer. He impacts winning in so many things that he does, even when he is not scoring a lot,” he said.
“He’s the kind of guy who looks at the game and says okay, this is what I need to contribute. Sometimes it will be scoring, sometimes it will be being the ball mover, sometimes he will be the spread-out guy … and then the stuff you don’t see off the court as well. Stephen’s such a tremendous leader.”
