MANILA – Earl Scottie Thompson was apologetic for his endgame mistakes in Gilas Pilipinas’ close 91-90 loss to Jordan in the sixth window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Monday night at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings guard admitted that there was pressure when he missed two free throws in the final 30 seconds that could have given Gilas Pilipinas the lead.
“Biggest missed free throws ko sa career ko. I’m going to learn from this. Sobrang ang dami kong nabigo na Pilipino,” Thompson said. “Andun ‘yung pressure kaya kinakausap ko ‘yung sarili ko na sana ma-shoot ko. Pero ganun talaga.”
Thompson, the reigning PBA MVP awardee, also admitted that he was unaware of the existing FIBA ruling where committing an away from play foul will merit a technical free throw.
“Dami dami (ko ding crucial error). Yung (away from play) foul ko nung down the stretch, may rule pala ang FIBA about dun at hindi ko alam ‘yun so nagulat din kami,” Thompson said.
“We had a flat start and we got through it hanggang sa dulo. Nabigyan namin ng magandang laban (yung Jordan) pero yun nga we came up short, dahil sa missed free throw ko,” he added.
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes also came into the defense of the former University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Altas star and lauded him for his all-around effort in the match.
“Like what I told Scottie after the match that he should not get down on himself, he would not have gotten to the free throw line if he did not got the (offensive) rebound,” Reyes said.
“Those things happen and we are aware of those incidents in the past,” he added. “Scottie is going to be a better player from that (incident). When it matters, I don’t think Scottie will miss again.”
Regardless of the close defeat, the national men’s basketball team will still advance to the 2023 FIBA World Cup tournament proper for being one of the three host countries of the competition./PN
