SCOTTIE THE EQUALIZER

Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is thrilled to have a full-bodied backcourt again after dealing with Scottie Thompson's absence in their last international sortie.

- By OLMIN LEYBA

Thompson was sidelined by a back injury in Gilas' campaign in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia last July, forcing Chris Newsome, Dwight Ramos and even CJ Perez to do more playmaking on top of their main chores.

With the Ginebra point guard back in harness for next week's FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers Window 2, it's full steam ahead for Cone's guard line.

"Scottie kind of equalizes everything," said the Gilas mentor of Thompson, who actually led the Nationals in assists with nine when he last suited up in February in their sweep of Hong Kong, 94-64, and Chinese Taipei, 106-53, in the Continental qualifiers' first window.