Ginebra star Scottie Thompson was simply out of his groove in the first three games of their PBA semifinals series against Meralco.

Turned out, the former Most Valuable Player needed some words of encouragement from team manager Alfrancis Chua to unleash his inner beast.

Thompson scored his series-high 15 points in Game 4 to help the Gin Kings level the best-of-seven showdown with a 90-71 win on Friday, May 24, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Known for his all-around effort, Thompson chose to focus on the offense and interestingly had no assist for the first time in the series.

The ploy worked well, with the Kings letting LA Tenorio to man the point guard position and the ball finding Thompson for open looks.

“Yesterday morning palang bago mag-practice tinawagan ako ni boss Al (Chua) and iba ‘yong motivation na binigay ni coach Al,” said Thompson.

“Ni-remind nya ako kung paano ako nagsimula, ni-remind nya kung sino ako,” he added.

Ginebra head coach Tim Cone also thanked Chua and tipped his hat to Thompson for his stellar showing.

“Good thing Scottie (Thompson) stayed aggressive. It was good to see Scottie breakout,” Cone said.

“He had some conversation with Alfrancis Chua last night, and coach Al is a great motivator, so I think he helped out in terms of Scottie (Thompson) right minded coming into this series, and this particular game,” he added.

Ginebra will try to get the upper hand in Game 5 on Sunday, May 26, at the same venue.