By REYNALD MAGALLON
Known as someone who thrived more when under pressure, the usually cool and steady Scottie Thompson unbelievably succumbed to heavy pressure.
With only 31.9 seconds left and Gilas down only by one, 91-90, the reigning PBA Most Valuable Player missed not just one free throw but two that could have given Gilas Pilipinas the lead and probably the game against Jordan.
But those were only the ‘what ifs’ and ‘what could have beens’ of the contest that could have gone either way.
It was simple case of ‘breaks of the game.’
No one is really blaming Thompson for the loss, not head coach Chot Reyes and not even Justin Brownlee whose 41-point performance went down the drain in that 91-90 defeat at the hands of Jordan.
In fact, those two were the first to offer comforting words to Thompson who, outside of the huge free throw misses, was still one of the catalysts of Gilas in that 25-point comeback.
“I told Scottie not to get down on himself. We wouldn’t have gotten to the free throw if he didn’t rebound it anyway. Siya rin naman kumuha ng rebound na ‘yun eh. Those things happen,” said Reyes.
Brownlee echoed the sentiments of their coach saying that the last two free throws should not take away the contributions of Thompson especially when they were trailing big and rallying back into the game.
“Definitely weird from Scottie (but) every player experiences that. It’s nothing to be down about,” Brownlee commented.
“Scottie had made great shots and made big plays throughout his whole career and even big plays in this game. If he doesn’t make some of those plays, we’ll not be in a position (to win), those two free throws were crucial but at the end of the day, we know Scottie can make those and we still believe in him,” he added.
Reyes also expects Thompson to bounce back from the tough break and become an even better player and will surely knock the free throws down the next time around.
“Scottie is going to be a much better player from that. It happened already in our history, and I’m sure you remember those things in the past. And like I said, it was his efforts that he got the offensive rebound. Unfortunately, he missed,” said Reyes.
“When it mattered, I don’t think Scottie will miss again,” he added.
