Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone was delighted seeing Scottie Thompson displaying a different facet of his game during their 87-46 win over Guam in the first window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers late Friday at the Calvo Fieldhouse in Guam.

Cone stressed that Thompson’s defense on Guam’s top gun Jericho Cruz served as the key to their victory that boosted their morale heading into their rematch on Monday at the Blue Eagle Gym inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City.

After Cruz dropped 15 points in the first half, Thompson took the cudgels of stopping him, holding him to only two points in the second half that allowed the Filipinos to dictate the tempo the rest of the way.

Cone said Thompson’s familiarity with Cruz, who plays for San Miguel Beer in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), served as the key to his airtight defense.

“These guys play on rival teams and they play against each other all the time,” said Cone, referring to  Thompson, who is playing for him at Barangay Ginebra in the PBA.

“So it was nothing new for Scottie to go against him.”

Cone said seeing Cruz catching fire early on put fire on Thompson’s eyes.

“There’s always great motivation when you are playing that kind of player and Jericho was greatly motivated. And I think Scottie got really motivated to defend him in the second half,” Cone said.

Thompson, who is known for his hustle and clutch baskets rather than his one-on-one defense, revealed that he recieved a marching order from Cone to suffocate Cruz with Guam just within striking distance away at halftime, 29-40.

“He just said we have to step up on our defense especially with Jericho Cruz,” Thompson said. 

“He’s been playing really well in the first half. So we need someone to step up on him and we play as a team defensively really well. So I think that was the key. If we play great defensively, I think we are good.”