STANLEY Pringle put a cherry on their championship cake as the Barangay Ginebra spitfire emerged victorious in the tight fight for the coveted top individual award in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup.
A little over a month after their team captured the crown in the historic Clark bubble competition, Pringle made things a lot sweeter, more memorable and more special with a proud moment in winning the top plum in the tourney's virtual awards rites presented by the league through TV5 Sunday night.
The Fil-Am guard beat an elite cast of rival contenders in Calvin Abueva, Matthew Wright, RR Pogoy, Bobby Ray Parks and CJ Perez, and thus continuing a great ride since his jump from NorthPort to Ginebra.
Pringle, Abueva and Wright all made it to the Elite Five, sharing honors with Ginebra's Japeth Aguilar and TNT KaTropa's Poy Erram.
"Just like the others said just being nominated was a blessing. It's really hard to pick a winner. All are deserving. I'm now looking forward to playing the next conference hard," said Pringle.
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"I'm not really looking to make the stats but help my team win. Shout out to my teammates. This is their award too," Pringle added.
Meanwhile, Meralco's Aaron Black, the 18th pick in the 2019 draft, made history as the lowest drafted player ever to win the Rookie Award.
"It feels great, and I want to thank God for this. Definitely, this award will push me to work harder," said Aaron, son of PBA Hall of Fame import Norman.
Two other Gin Kings emerged as bubble play top individual achievers, with Prince Caperal being recognized as the Most Improved Player and Scottie Thompson named as winner of the Sportsmanship award.
"Sobrang saya na-recognize ang improvement sa game ko. Gusto kong pasalamatan ang mga coaches namin at teammates ko dahil hindi ko naman makukuha ito kung wala ang tulong nila," said Caperal, seizing the moment with Ginebra first-string center Greg Slaughter taking a sabbatical.
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"Sobrang blessed. I just followed the footstep of Kuya Gabe (Norwood) in playing the game the right way," said Thompson.
Caperal, a product of Arellano U, became the sixth Ginebra player to win the MIP award after Dante Gonzalgo in 1989, Rey Cuenco in 1990, Pido Jarencio in 1992, Elmer Lago in 1999 and Thompson in 2018. (SB)
