Tireless trio of Malonzo, Brownlee, and Thompson delivers the goods for Ginebra.
Justin Brownlee, Jamie Malonzo, and Scottie Thompson could have just mailed it in on Wednesday night as the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings took on the Meralco Bolts in the resumption of the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup. No one would have blamed them if they came out flat and had bad games. After all, they had just helped Gilas Pilipinas beat Lebanon on Friday and nearly willed it to what would have been an improbable never-say-die comeback against Jordan on Monday.
Instead, all three played like the stars they are as they led the Gin Kings to a huge victory over the Bolts. Brownlee posted his usual all-around numbers of 29 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 block, while Malonzo contributed 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Thompson, on the other hand, finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 4 steals. He also played his usual stout defense, limiting Chris Newsome to 15 markers.
In short, the Gilas Gin Kings delivered the goods for Ginebra. The effort was not lost on Tim Cone.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of Justin, Scottie, and Jamie for coming out and playing with the kind of effort, and the minutes they played tonight,” Cone said of his three stars. “I was with them the whole week during Gilas, and it was a really, really tough week. We were doing two-a-day practices, they were high intensive [sic] games. The games were a lot of pressure…”
Cone also pointed out that Gilas “really relied on the three of them” in both games, and the three Gin Kings responded by doing yeoman’s work in both encounters.
“They didn’t practice with us yesterday, they just came straight to the game and played,” Cone added. “And, lo and behold, look at how well the three of them played. I can’t be more proud of the three of those guys tonight for coming out and reaching deep and continuing to play and lead the team.”
Actually, all of the Gin Kings had to dig deep on Wednesday night against their rivals. But Brownlee, Malonzo, and Thompson may have dug deepest. It is what stars do.