Critics quickly judge Scottie Thompson’s inclusion in Gilas Pilipinas by merely looking at the numbers on the stats sheet under his name.

A five-second inbound violation in the final seconds of Gilas Pilipinas’ must-win game against Jordan in the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers almost left Thompson crucified by his non-believers.

Kai Sotto’s defensive gem of swatting Abdullah Olajuwon’s point-blank shot with time winding down preserved Gilas’ thrilling, 82-81, come-from-behind overtime victory last Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

That last play not only kept the Philippines’ bid for a fourth straight trip to the world stage and stopped a four-game bleeding, but also saved Thompson’s neck from the chopping block after his turnover off a timeout nine seconds earlier.

Thompson, who returned for the tricolor after missing the third window because of a hamstring injury, only had one point in nearly 29 minutes on the floor but head coach Tim Cone saw his importance beyond his scoring.

“People kind of give Scottie a hard time because he’s not a great shooter. He’s not a true point guard. He’ll make a turnover here and there. But they dismiss all the other stuff that he does,” Cone said.

For the decorated mentor, it’s the energy and hustle that make the former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player valuable for Gilas.

In fact, despite a 0-of-2 field goal shooting and a 1-of-2 from the line, Thompson was efficient in doing the hard, dirty work.

He grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists and had one steal with a +13 point differential — meaning his time on the floor was well spent in Gilas’ comeback from 18 points down.

“We know in the PBA, we call him Scottie things. He does all the Scottie things. He gets the rebounds. He gets the loose balls. He defends. He knows how to get teams into execution. And he will make big shots or get to the rim when he needs to, but he really relies on his teammates a lot to make shots,” Cone said of his Barangay Ginebra player.

Cone could only marvel at Thompson’s work ethic and sacrifice for the country’s cause.

“He came off a really bad hamstring injury. Really bad. It was kind of, you could see the bruising on the outside of his leg so it took him awhile to recover,” Cone said.

But the most important contribution of Thompson was his defensive effort on Jordan’s high-scoring naturalized player Jalen Harris.

Harris had to bleed for his 19 points. He shot 6-of-22 from the field with a production below his average of 27 points before facing Gilas.

Freddy Ibrahim torched Gilas from the outside in the first half, but Thompson also had his moments keeping the Jordanian shooter in check in the crucial moments of the second half and overtime.

“I’ve got to say that Scottie, CJ (Perez), and Dwight (Ramos) did a great job defending Jalen Harris and (Freddy) Ibrahim. Ibrahim was lights out in the first half but we got him under control in the second,” Cone said.

“Their defense really turned the tide and kept those two guys under control.”

Cone has his full confidence in Thompson no matter what his naysayers claim.