MANILA, Philippines -- He has been coaching Scottie Thompson for eight years now, but Tim Cone will never cease to be amazed by the qualities of the Barangay Ginebra point guard.

Thompson again left Cone in awe with his performance in Game 7 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals last Sunday, which saw the Gin Kings pull away for a 114-99 triumph over the Bay Area Dragons. The comfortable win gave Ginebra its 15th title as a franchise, with Cone adding a 25th to his collection while Thompson racked up a seventh since being drafted in 2016.

"Sobrang sarap. Di ko ma-explain ngayon 'yung saya namin, kasi we never know kailan ulit mangyayari itong pagkakataon against a guest team," said Thompson after their triumph. "Chine-cherish lang namin at ine-enjoy lang namin ngayon. Sobrang thankful."

Thompson played over 40 minutes in the win, putting up 18 points, nine rebounds, six steals, and four assists. His performance was widely praised by Cone, particularly his work on the defensive end.

The reigning PBA Most Valuable Player had been Ginebra's primary defender against Bay Area import Myles Powell. While the American guard still reached 29 points, he shot just 9-of-22 from the field and committed five of their 13 turnovers in the game. Outside of a hot stretch in the third quarter, Powell was kept mostly in check by the Ginebra defense.

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"Poor Scottie. We ask him to do so much," said Cone, who believes that Thompson is unique among PBA superstars in this regard.

"He's the only superstar out there that's gonna defend the import of the other team, that's going to handle the ball, gonna get every rebound," the coach said.

"I mean, how many superstars you know is gonna do all that? Do all the dirty work and still score, still assist, still play at that energy level that he plays at. He never relaxes."

Thompson could be forgiven for taking possessions off, given how much he contributes to Ginebra whenever he is on the floor. But Cone stresses that their point guard does not let up for a second.

"Just none of that with Scottie. None of that. And the fact that we can ask him for 48 minutes to go out and guard a guy like Powell all the way, it's just truly amazing," said Cone. "He is an amazing player, much more than I think people really appreciate."

"I know everybody appreciates him, but even though they appreciate him a lot, it's still not enough for all the things that he does. Amazing, amazing, truly," he added.

Thompson predictably deflected the credit for his performance, praising their coaching staff instead for how they kept the players' spirits up after a sorry loss in Game 6. The Gin Kings were on the brink of closing out the series last Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum, before Powell sparked Bay Area's late fightback to force a deciding game.

"Credit din talaga sa coaching staff especially kay Coach Tim. Coming to this game, sobrang positive nila," said Thompson. "Hindi mo makikitaan ng negativity yung coaching staff namin."

"Kung makita mo silang positive, talagang kaming mga players, na-boost yung confidence namin, kumpiyansa namin, kaya talagang ginive namin yung best namin ngayon," he added.

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