Scottie Thompson is feeling good despite being bothered by a back spasm during their friendly match against Finland as part of their preparation for the FIBA Basketball World Cup that the country will host from 25 August to 10 September.
Thompson, the reigning Most Valuable Player in the Philippine Basketball Association, injected the intensity to finish with 10 points for the Filipinos, who absorbed a sorry 85-89 loss against the World Cup-bound Finnish squad.
He said stepping on the court and getting a feel of the game makes him feel good.
“I’ve seen how my teammates worked hard and sacrificed their bodies,” said Thompson, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel star who skipped Gilas’ first tune up game against Estonia.
“My back spasm has loosened up and I was able to feel good about it. Just being there back on the court is a good feeling. I need to play because it’s difficult if you don’t sweat out. I need to have some sort of a workout because I’ve been idle for three days. I just want to get back in shape.”
The Filipinos’ setback was quite an improvement from their 71-81 loss to Estonia in their first friendly match.
Gilas coach Chot Reyes emphasized the importance of having a good start and has now contemplated on making changes as early as the warm up routines while juggling the starting unit.
Surprisingly, the Finish were physical which caught Gilas by surprise, including Thompson.
“We had a bad start the past two games. We were able to recover, but we didn’t have a strong start,” Thompson said.
“That’s one of the things we need to learn. In international competitions, the first two minutes is like a second-half showing. We just have to adapt to that kind of play.”
After two tune-up matches, Gilas will travel to Lithuania where they hold camp for the next 10 days and get a chance to play four more teams to wrap up their European training.
“It’s going to help us in the long run,” Thompson said.
“First time for me to play against a European team (Finland). That’s the purpose of the training camp, to get the feel of the FIBA World Cup brand of basketball. Hopefully, this training camp will be a big help in our preparation and we’re taking advantage of it.”
