GILAS Pilipinas playmaker Scottie Thompson struggled in his maiden stint in the 19th FIBA World Cup, drawing criticisms from armchair pundits.
But Thompson’s Ginebra teammate and retired Gilas big man Christian Standhardinger defended the reigning PBA MVP from naysayers and unbelievers.
“(Thompson) left his newborn baby and (flew) to Europe to practice twice a day, (was) always available to play for the country with no incentives needed, injured his hand in Gilas practice, rushed back to play in the World Cup (and risked) his health,” Standhardinger said on his Instagram account yesterday. “Didn’t fill out the stat sheets as expected but anybody knows he brings more to the table than only stats.
“Still got criticized. Let’s celebrate our athletes instead of tearing them down,” he added.
Nursing a metacarpal fracture on his right hand, the 6-foot-1 Thompson reported late to the Philippine five’s build up for the blue-ribbon event.
Thompson averaged measly numbers of 1.8 points, 2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in five games, failing to score in three of them.
He understood the jilted fans’ sentiments, saying: “Kung naiinis sila sa akin, that’s their opinion, nirerespeto ko iyon. Lahat naman tayo may kanya-kanyang opinion.”
The Filipino cagers finished with a 1-4 slate for 24th in the 32-team field and gained a slot to the Olympic qualifying tournament next year.
Gilas will now shift its focus to the 19th Asian Games set Sept. 23 to Oct. 8 in Hangzhou.
Thompson is convinced he can only get better.
“Hindi ko siya ine-excuse, na dahil sa injury ko, pangit performance ko, na nag-struggle ako as a player dahil may injury ako. Hindi siya excuse kasi World Cup,” he said.
“Talagang nag-struggle lang ako as a player. For me, dito ko mabui-build ang character ko as a player.”
