SMART CLARK GIGA CITY--Where does Scottie Thompson's tremendous energy come from? Well, as it turns out, it's from his pre-game meal.
The do-it-all Barangay Ginebra guard, who drew comparisons to PBA legend Johnny Abarrientos by no less than coach Tim cone, shared that before heading to the AUF Arena, he eats his favorite chicken inasal or adobo cooked either by his girlfriend Pau Fajardo or his driver.
"Malaking bagay 'yung mga ayuda kasi syempre kahit masasarap 'yung mga pagkain dito sa hotel iba pa rin pag 'yung pre-game (meal) na gusto mong kainin," said Thompson.
"Kapag hindi ko nakakain 'yung pre-game ko parang nanghihina ako," he added.
On Wednesday night, the former Finals MVP was overflowing with energy anew as he pumped in a near triple-double of 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the Kings' 96-79 drubbing of the Meralco Bolts in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal tiff in the PBA Philippine Cup.
With his all-around effort that also included two steals and a block in 35 minutes, the 27-year-old guard earned the admiration of Cone, the mentor of the “Flying A” during the heydays of the Alaska Milkmen in the 1990s.
"The guy I always compare him to is Johnny Abarrientos only because Johnny did so much during the games to impact them. He will do a couple of razzle-dazzle plays and everybody goes 'ooh and aah' but no one would remember or notice the other plays that he was impacting the game. And that's the same with Scottie," said the league's winningest tactician.
The former Perpetual Help star was obviously flattered with the comparison, but insisted that he is just doing his role in the team.
"Ang mindset ko kasi every time talagang be aggressive kahit na anong mangyari, starter man ako o hindi, konting minutes man. From the start naman ng PBA career ko 'yun talaga ang mindset ko. I think 'yung being aggressive ang best na naitutulong ko sa team palagi and dumarating na lang 'yung numbers," he said.
Cone could not stress more the significance of the ex-NCAA MVP to the title-chasing Ginebra.
"His ability to just continue to play with tremendous energy, it just really lifts our whole team all the time."