Barangay Ginebra San Miguel stars Scottie Thompson and Justin Brownlee appeared to have cleared the final hurdle in their bid to win the two individual awards that will be handed out in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
Thompson is poised to take home the biggest individual award at this point of his career after maintaining his hold on second spot in the Best Player of the Conference race while Brownlee moved on top of the Best Import derby after Ginebra’s semifinal series win over NLEX.
The 28-year-old Thompson produced 35.0 Statistical Points at the end of the semis for a distant second behind the 39.9 compiled by NorthPort’s Robert Bolick.
But Bolick and NorthPort’s early exit from the reinforced tournament has opened the door for Thompson to gain the significant nod of those who will cast their votes for the BPC plum starting Monday.
Forty percent of the Statistical Points will be used to determine the winner while votes will come from the media (30%), players (25%) and the PBA Commissioner’s Office (5%).
The same criteria is going to be implemented for the Best Import, with Brownlee jumping to the lead with 53.7 SPs through the semifinals.
He was fifth at the end of the elims but climbed up the ladder after putting up a series of excellent performances against TNT in the quarters and NLEX in the final four.
Magnolia’s Mike Harris is second with 49.2 while Tony Bishop, who helped Meralco reach the finals, is ranked third with 47.5 SPs.
Brownlee has won the Best Import just once during the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup and settled for second to Meralco’s Allen Durham in all of three times he led Ginebra to the Governors’ Cup crown in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
The winner of the two awards will be named before Game 4 of the title series between Ginebra and Meralco on April 13 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.