Why did Caloy Garcia Call Out his Bigs?

(Photo by the PBA Media Bureau)

One of the smallest guys from Ginebra's bench is the reason why

If one of the smallest guys from the other team outplayed your team's big men, it means one thing: that little guy is playing better than your giants.

Apparently, that was the case for Scottie Thompson of the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings.

And that's one of the reasons why Coach Caloy Garcia of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters was furious about as Thompson's performance in the first game of their quarterfinals series is something that the rest of the Elasto Painters will need to work on come tomorrow's Game 2 if they want to force a Game 3.

To begin with, what did Scottie Thompson do that had Caloy Garcia call out his big men?

Aside from lacking effort and being soft, the main reason why Garcia was furious was the fact that a smaller Scottie Thompson actually outplayed the likes of Beau Belga, Jay Washington, Jewel Ponferada and, Raymond Almazan. How many rebounds did the 4 big men of Rain or Shine grab?

Ponferada: 6

Belga: 5

Washington 4

Almazan: 1

Total: 16 rebounds

On the other hand, Scottie Thompson had 15 REBOUNDS alone- outrebounding his taller teammates. And this is a welcome effort from Thompson considering the fact that Ginebra was missing the services of Greg Slaughter who was out to allow to heal his injury that he sustained during practice.

Given the fact that this wasn't the first time we saw Thompson grab that many rebounds in a game, Rain or Shine should have asserted more effort in being more physical against Thompson especially in getting the rebounds. Mind you, Thompson had 14 points and 7 assists along with his 15 rebounds so it's a complete performance, a complete package.

Conclusion

If anything, Caloy Garcia did the right thing in calling out his underperforming big men. You can't simply allow a guy who stands at 6' 1'' outplay you. It's totally unacceptable and equally fatal during the playoffs. Fortunately for the Elasto Painters, they can back at it tomorrow or, they can start packing up their bags for an early break.