Stanley Pringle deeply appreciates having his name in the discussion for the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award.
The Ginebra star scorer is among the six nominees for the plum, together with TNT’s Ray Parks and Roger Pogoy; the Phoenix Super LPG duo of Matthew Wright and Calvin Abueva; and CJ Perez of Terrafirma.
“I’m always gonna appreciate any award – even any recognition for any award. I’m always gonna appreciate that,” Pringle expressed in the pilot episode of The Game on One News, Monday night.
Interestingly, the 33-year-old isn’t in the top five of the statistical points race – he ranks sixth with 34.8 SPs, to be exact. Still, he made a strong case for playing a vital role in the Barangay’s championship run.
Pringle averaged a team-best 18.2 points per game in the elimination round, steering the Gin Kings to an 8-3 record to clinch the no. 1 seed.
He then helped the crowd darlings make good use of their win-once incentive in the quarterfinals by booting out Rain or Shine. After that, he led them past a familiar foe in Meralco in the best-of-five semis that went the full route.
Against the Bolts, the former scoring champion posted per-game norms of 18.4 markers, seven rebounds, 3.6 assists, and a steal.
The five-time All-Star, ultimately, proved his worth anew in the Finals, where Ginebra beat TNT, 4-1. There, he averaged 20.0 points, including a 34-point explosion in Game 2 that gave them a 2-0 lead.
No less than head coach Tim Cone said last season that Pringle is “the most consistent player in the league, much less Ginebra.” And the Penn State alumnus proved as much.
Pringle, however, begs to differ. He himself mentioned that there were times where games weren’t going his way due to the rigors of last season’s grueling set-up, where the league played in a bubble for two months.
“It was definitely a tough situation. You know, I even had some games where I was up and down,” he bared.
“So even if people say, ‘Oh, you’ve been consistent!’ I think at the end of the day, I have times where the ball is not going into the rim.”
Still, Pringle undeniably deserves his nomination for the BPC honors, and he feels flattered. But while he appreciates the recognition, what matters most for the two-time champion is his team winning.
“At the end of the day, I just wanna put my focus on helping the team win. Hopefully, everybody feels the same way,” he said.
“Most of our focus is, you know, helping the team with the best of our ability – whether it’s on defense or offense, or whatever the coach feels that you have a special talent that you could bring to the team to win.”
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