Scottie Thompson was up to his usual tricks in Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's 88-80 Game 1 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals on Monday night.
Just as he had done all conference long, the shooting guard played like a big man as he tallied 14 points and 16 rebounds. He even nearly notched a triple-double after finishing with seven assists.
"I think that's what coach (Tim Cone) wants us to do. We have to grind out this game," Thompson said about his performance. "We know this is a tough game. I'm just doubling my effort. Good thing we won."
With Thompson leading the way, four other Ginebra players reached double-figures. Plus, his 16 rebounding total was the most by any player from either side in Game 1. He was all over the floor making one good play after the other. He played so well that he drew high praise from Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
"I thought Scottie was phenomenal all game long, hit big shots, hit big rebounds, defended extremely well," Cone proudly shared. "He was shockingly good. I mean, he's always good, but he was shockingly good today."
Thompson failed to reach a triple-double on Monday night but he's no stranger to achieving such a feat. During his NCAA days, he had seven triple-doubles in his graduating year. In the PBA, he finally got his first one in a semifinals matchup against the San Miguel Beermen in the 2016 PBA Governors' Cup.
But a near triple-double and Game 1 victory merited particularly high praise from his coach.
"He kinda epitomizes what we hope that we are as a team in terms of that hard work and desire," Cone admired about his young star. "He epitomizes what we do, and I just want to mention him because he was special tonight. He's special all the time, but he was extra special tonight."
Thompson played exceptionally well that even a 20-time PBA champion coach couldn't help but notice. But for Thompson, it was just about playing hard as he possible can.
"I just did my best - play hard," the 24-year-old humbly said. "Coach Tim has been stressing this to us coming into this series: get Game 1. Every series, he always says that we should get Game 1 so that we could initiate the series."
Leaning on Thompson's hustle, determination, and seemingly boundless energy, Ginebra was able to draw first blood in their quarterfinals bout.
"It wasn't a pretty game but the playoffs aren't pretty. Playoffs are just, 'Let's put our heads together and bang 'em and see who can continue to stand up.' That's what we did tonight," Cone went on talking about the tough postseason. "So we gotta turn around and try to do it again on Wednesday."
If Ginebra wants to close out the series and move on to the semifinals, they'll have to follow Thompson's efforts and show good old-fashioned hard work and desire.