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Scottie Thompson’s amazing rebounding skills have been in full display in the past few games that hauling 15 rebounds now doesn’t look like anything out of the ordinary for the guard.
“How many rebounds [did he get]? 15? Only 15?,” Ginebra head coach Tim Cone asked the reporters in jest after the game Friday night.
But Thompson isn’t just about cleaning the glass. He helped propel Ginebra to a 99-90 victory over Blackwater for the Kings’ first back-to-back wins this conference.
The former Perpetual star engineered the Gin Kings pullaway after the Elite knotted the score at 82 with 8:44 left to play.
It started with an assist to Dave Marcelo, then a rebound here and a drive there and before you know it, Ginebra is already in a 11-2 run to secure the win.
“He got us a little run back after they tied it. He got a couple of drives to the basket, he was rebounding again. Even when he’s not rebounding the ball, it was rebounding to him. It’s amazing that he seems to be always at the right place at the right time,” said the two-time Grand Slam-winning mentor.
Thompson finished the game with another absurd stat line with 13 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and two steals in his 38 minutes on the floor before excusing himself out of the venue due to a nagging back pain.
He is now at third in rebounding this conference with 10.9 boards per game, trailing only San Miguel giant June Mar Fajardo (15.4 rebounds) and Rain or Shine beanpole Raymond Almazan (11.6 rebounds).
But Cone believes that the Digos City native has barely scratched the surface of his potential, even comparing him to some of the game’s greats.
“He’s a few rungs below Sonny Jaworski but I think rebounding, they’re at par. I haven’t seen a rebounding guard like Scottie. Even in the NBA, they’ve got the kid from Oklahoma City, (Russell) Westbrook, who is obviously a great rebounding guard and is putting up triple-doubles,” he said.
“I don’t want to put pressure on Scottie, but I think eventually he could end up putting up Westbrook numbers once he learns how to score and be aggressive in that area. I think that will open up the gates for him.”