MANILA, Philippines — Few sights inspire more cheers and gasps from Ginebra fans than when Scottie Thompson, all 6-foot-1 of him, soars for a rebound over bigger and taller players.
Thompson has been a relentless rebounder since his collegiate days, when he regularly racked up triple-doubles for Perpetual Help. His athleticism and motor help, and Thompson regularly credits his teammates for boxing out opposing team's big men, but no one can deny that the guard has a nose for the ball.
He carried that uncanny rebounding ability to the PBA, where he became an immediate favorite of the "Barangay."
In the All-Filipino finals, however, Thompson is quite sure that he will be unable to match the rebounding statistics of San Miguel's June Mar Fajardo, who led the PBA in boards with 16.0 RPG in the eliminations, and 14.0 RPG in the semifinals.
"Hindi, imposible 'yun," Thompson quickly answered, laughing, when asked if he can match Fajardo's averages during their best-of-seven finals series.
" 'Yung mga rebounds ko lang, gusto ko lang naman na makapag-extra possession kami," Thompson added. " 'Yun lang naman ang purpose ko. Wala 'yung tumaas 'yung average ko sa rebound. Basta 'yun lang, para sa team."
Besides, Thompson has bigger things to worry about than matching Fajardo's rebounding average. Thompson and Ginebra are concerned about the big man's overall impact on the game, including his ability to open spots for his teammates and possibly put all of their bigs in foul trouble.
"Si June Mar naman, talagang kumbaga, hindi siya basta-basta ma-stop," Thompson said. "Gaya nga ng sabi ni Coach Tim (Cone), i-limit lang namin siya sa mga stats niya. Limit lang talaga siya."
"Totally, team defense talaga ito."
While Fajardo will obviously be the biggest cause of headaches for Ginebra, Thompson has become a cause of concern for the Beermen.
During the two teams' best-of-five series in the 2016 PBA Governors' Cup semifinals, Thompson had his coming-out party, registering a triple-double in Game 3 while managing to secure extra possessions for his team with timely offensive boards.
"I think we've learned a lot from our series last conference," San Miguel coach Leo Austria said of Thompson's ability to impact a game.
"They beat us 3-2 sa semifinals, and Scottie Thompson was one of the factors, dahil marami siyang offensive rebound na nakuha, and 'yun ang advantage na naibigay niya sa kanila."
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