SCOTTIE Thompson solidified his status as the new face of Barangay Ginebra with a performance for the ages in yet another chapter in the franchise’s fabled “Never Say Die” dictum.
As the defending Governors Cup champions faced elimination due to a twice-to-win disadvantage, Thompson poured it all and led the Kings’ amazing climb to clinch a berth in the best-of-five semifinals.
The do-it-all guard was simply everywhere with his near triple-double average in two as the sixth-seeded Kings pulled the rug from under no. 3 TNT in their quarterfinals series.
Thompson and the Gin Kings will shift their focus on NLEX starting this Wednesday in Game 1 of the best-of-five semis.
Thompson tallied superb all-around numbers of 20.0 points on an efficient 14-of-27 clip, 12.5 rebounds, and 8.5 assists in two games to earn the hands down choice as the Cignal Play-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for March 16 to 19.
The former NCAA MVP from Perpetual University uncorked a 23-15-8 stats line on top of two blocks in Game 1, where Ginebra turned it up late to forge a knockout match against the favored Tropang Giga behind a 104-92 win.
A day later, he was an assist shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and nine dimes plus two steals in the Kings’ runaway 115-95 victory to eliminate the Tropang Giga and march on to the Final Four.
