WITH Scottie Thompson out, Stanley Pringle has been picking up the slack, and in the process, has gone back to his scoring ways.
Pringle may not be producing the way he did early in his PBA career with the NorthPort franchise, but he is back to averaging in double digits this conference, at least through four games of the Philippine Cup.
He scored a conference-high 17 points during Sunday’s win over Magnolia, raising his scoring average to 11 per contest. The last time he averaged in double figures in a conference was in the 2021 Philippine Cup where he posted 17.2 a game.
His increased scoring output is no accident.
Cone tells Pringle to step up
Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone said he had a conversation last week with Pringle about giving him more minutes that he was used to. Due to nagging injuries in the past, Ginebra has been managing Pringle’s minutes, until this conference.
“I told him actually (last week) that normally, we try to manage Stanley’s minutes, try to keep it down so that he continues to stay healthy,” said Cone.
“But I told him (last week) that with Scottie out, and no Justin Brownlee, he really needs to step it up and I have to gonna play him more minutes. We start him in the game, and played him more minutes,” said Cone.
Pringle responded positively to the conversation.
“He was like, ‘Yes, let’s do it, I’m ready,’” said Cone.
With Thompson expected to be out for an extended time due to a back injury, Cone can only hope that Pringle is able to stay healthy.
“We just hope he can manage the heavier minutes and not break down. If he does, he is a dominant player in our league. I think he is excited about getting back to playing normal minutes and not having to manage minutes,” said Cone.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
