Where Scottie Thompson and Christian Standhardinger go, Barangay Ginebra will follow.

Kings head coach Tim Cone underscored the importance and impact of how the duo will perform in their quest to secure a finals seat in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup against a familiar rival in Meralco.

No. 2 seed Ginebra is through to the best-of-seven semifinals after beating Magnolia, 99-77, last Sunday. The Kings will face the Bolts starting Friday for their eighth straight playoffs meeting since 2016.

Thompson, who missed Ginebra’s first six games due to back issues, helped the franchise turn its fortune around with his energy and leadership inside the court.

“Scottie plays with that uncommon energy. You just don’t see that in all the players,” Cone said.

Thompson complemented Standhardinger’s offensive explosion of 36 points with an all-around outing to fill that stats box with 11 points, 10 assists, seven steals, six rebounds and a block in the quarters blowout.

“Christian has a lot of that as well, that uncommon energy that no matter what’s the situation he’s gonna be out there locked in, focused and playing hard all the time. You’ll never see these guys take breaks,” the multi-titled mentor said.

‘Scottie plays with that uncommon energy. You just don’t see that in all the players.’

Cone expects more of that from the pair when they clash with their elimination round tormentor.

The Thompson-less Ginebra suffered humiliation at the hands of Meralco in their first meeting in the all-Filipino conference, getting beaten black and blue 73-91, last 15 March in a game that saw the Gin Kings trail by as many as 31.

But Cone believes that with Thompson back in the fold this time around, Ginebra will give Meralco a hell of a series.

“We’re missing Scottie’s presence earlier. We need him to step up. We need Christian to step up,” Cone said.

Standhardinger has been consistent in leading Ginebra with a double-double average of 19.9 points and 11.2 rebounds while adding 5.1 assist per game.

“I think at the beginning of the conference I always have a little adjustment period because the team’s throw some different stuff at you and it takes some time to figure out, ‘OK he’s coming from there and now Ralph (Cu) must be open or the high-low to Japeth (Aguilar).’ I’m just trying to affect winning, that’s why it’s great to play with my teammates,” he said.

Aside from his reliable guard, Standhardinger also praised youngster Ralph Cu’s contributions.