SMART CLARK GIGA CITY--Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone is the least surprised to see Stanley Pringle being regarded as the best player in the PBA Philippine Cup right now.
And that is because Cone has been witnessing Pringle's work ethic.
"He's by far the best player on the floor and I think everybody recognizes that. Having that guy is a true luxury. I'll tell you every coach right now is saying we're winning because we have Stanley," said the most bemedalled mentor in league history.
"He deserves all the accolades he's getting 'cause he works. Stanley is a worker. I mean he's not like, 'I'm a superstar. I pull in here and play hard in games and in practice I won't do anything,'" he added.
"He is an absolute worker. He works all the time. He's the first guy on the court and the last guy to leave. All the time."
Pringle showed once again why he is one, if not the best, in the bubble on Sunday night.
The shifty guard erupted with an all-around effort of 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists in over 38 minutes of action as the Kings tripped the Meralco Bolts, 91-84, to inch closer to a return trip to the all-Filipino finals after three years.
But it was the 33-year-old Fil-American cager's penchant for producing endgame heroics that spelled the difference for Ginebra anew.
Although visibly tired, Pringle fired a step-back triple against Cliff Hodge and negated Allein Maliksi's own trey with a sneaky layup with under three minutes left to keep Meralco at bay.
Cone could not help but compare Pringle to American import Justin Brownlee, who came through with big plays for the Kings and led them to four championships, three in the Governors' Cup at the expense of the Bolts, in the past four years.
"You've seen Justin and the way Justin is taking over games for us in big moments. And Stanley is doing the same thing for us," said the American tactician.
And Cone is bent on banking on Pringle until he leads the Kings to the finals and ultimately their first Philippine Cup title since 2007.
"He's a special guy. Teams are figuring out ways to stop him and no one has quite figured it out yet."