Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings head coach Tim Cone believes Earl Scottie Thompson will benefit most from the arrival of rookie point guard Rhon Jay Abarrientos.

According to the winningest PBA head coach, Thompson was at his best when he had LA Tenorio as his point guard, and he expects a similar scenario with Abarrientos.

“We feel Scottie can play with him (Abarrientos). I felt Scottie really played his best basketball when he had LA at his side. LA can do some of the ball handling and free him up to get the rebounds and play as an off guard,” Cone said.

“And now with RJ, he can take away some of the burdens from Scottie and allow Scottie to do all of those Scottie things that nobody else does,” added the current Gilas Pilipinas mentor.

Cone also allayed the fears of the Gin Kings fans that there could be an issue with playing time between guards Abarrientos, Thompson, Stephen Holt, and Maverick Ahanmisi.

“I don’t see an issue with that. Mav can play with RJ, and Stephen Holt can play with RJ. They can play with each other. It’s a nice rotation of the guys,” said Cone.

“We can play three guards, Maverick, Scottie, and RJ, all playing together. It could be pretty exciting. We don’t see that as a playing time issue with those guys,” he added.