PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines-Coach Tim Cone remains pragmatic and steadfast on Scottie Thompson’s availability for the Fiba World Cup.
“We’re x-raying it week by week, seeing how it progresses. Right now, the date we’re given is August 18,” Cone told reporters on Sunday night, shortly after Barangay Ginebra’s 123-95 loss to Converge in the PBA On Tour double-header at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
“That might be too late because that’s barely a week before the start (of the World Cup). We don’t know. As we said, Scottie really likes to play and he’s doing everything that he can. He still comes into practice,” he added.
Thompson, the indefatigable Ginebra playmaker, and the PBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, hurt his right hand in a loose ball situation during one of Gilas Pilipinas’ tuneup games in Kaunas, Lithuania. He was later diagnosed with a metacarpal fracture which usually takes at least six weeks to heal.
The hand injury shelved Thompson for the remainder of the Nationals’ camp, which ultimately cast doubt on his participation in the World Cup set here on August 25.
Cone said that it would be a “big, big blow” if Gilas couldn’t have Thompson for the global showcase that the Philippines will be cohosting with Japan and Indonesia.
“His game is so infectious. It just infects everybody. How hard he plays, how hard he pursues rebounds, how hard he defends, how hard he brings the ball down the floor. It’s just his total effort that infects all the guys around him and makes the players better around him. And that’s something we need, obviously.
But the seasoned Cone, who is also part of the Gilas brain trust headed by his close pal Chot Reyes, assured that both Thompson and the national program will exhaust all efforts “to get him on the team.”
“He can come earlier than that if his bone heals faster than what’s expected—and Scottie fully believes he’s gonna heal, obviously. We need him,” he added.