Stuff of a legend: Cone in awe of Thompson’s magical performance

Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone was in awe of having witnessed two rare individual feats in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), more than three decades apart.

In his decorated career as mentor, it never crossed his mind that he would once again see another guard under his watch fill the stats sheet the way Scottie Thompson did in a remarkable 30-point triple-double for the books.

“Let me just say it was a legendary performance. I think we’re going to remember this one for a long time,” Cone said as he feted Thompson’s performance to anchor the Kings’ 105-91 Game 4 win in the Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinals on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The 2021 Most Valuable Player posted a career-best 35 points and laced it with 11 rebounds and 11 assists as Ginebra stormed back from 16 points down to level the best-of-seven showdown to 2-2.

His stats line ended a 33-year-long wait for the same production to be achieved by a local.

The last person to do so was on the Kings’ bench, barking instructions while Thompson was busy resetting his record.

Cone had the luxury of coaching Johnny Abarrientos — now his deputy -— drop 30 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists as a rookie for Alaska in a sorry 103-115 lost to Swift in the All-Filipino Conference on 11 April 1993 — three months before Thompson was born.

But Thompson’s triple-double was the first from a winning effort since Ronnie Magsanoc posted 32 points, 18 assists and 13 rebounds in Shell’s 155-108 win over Pepsi during the All-Filipino Conference back on 5 July 1990.

“I didn’t even know that Scottie was putting that kind of numbers up. We’re just trying to figure out a way to win,” said Cone, who had seen a lot of spectacular feats in his nearly four decades of coaching that netted him a league-best 25 PBA titles.

“It was a quiet triple-double in my mind. I don’t know, maybe the fans knew it was going on, but I didn’t know it was going on. He was really just all over the court.”

Thompson breached a first-ever career 30-point production with 7:28 left after knocking down a three-pointer before following it up with back-to-back baskets to give Ginebra a 91-83 edge with 5:41 remaining.

He completed his triple-double with a dish for a Japeth Aguilar two-handed jam with 2:46 left.

Humble as always, Scottie Thompson deflected the credit for his amazing game to his teammates.

“I think it’s a credit to my teammates. Overall, we lifted each other up. We helped each other. We stayed together through ups and downs,” said Thompson, who along with Abarrientos and Magsanoc is a member of the PBA 50 Greatest Players.

Thompson’s answer prompted Cone to butt in and name his guard as one of the two humblest players in the PBA along with San Miguel center June Mar Fajardo.

“You can keep asking this guy the same question and he’ll keep deflecting it to other people. He won’t take any credit. This has been his thing throughout his entire career,” Cone said.

“Scottie is the most humble guy you’ll ever meet, maybe outside of June Mar,” he added.

Cone also believed Thompson’s effort deserved not just applause but maybe a bonus.   

“(But) not from me, I can’t afford it,” he quipped.