MANILA (Philippines) – Spectators at Mall of Asia Arena chant the MVP chant to Dillon Brooks as everyone's favorite World Cup villain led Canada to a historic bronze medal.
The bronze medal fight has brought us all kinds of surprises, but only a few factors remain constant. One of them was Dillon Brooks, who scored 39 points in this exciting game and was the highest scoring player of the game.
Brooks broke Carl Reed's 69-year record of 37 points against the Philippines in the 1954 medal race.
Speaking about Brooks' performance, Kelly Olynyk said: "He's been making wishes all summer, but he's an incredible player. He's playing hard every day and he's the guy you want to play alongside you in the dressing room. I'm happy to see him play like this and for us he's getting better and better every game. "
Brooks' long-range firepower (7-of-8) illustrates what a reliable scorer he is. Three-pointers really helped him make history. This is only the second time in the past 30 years that someone has made 7 three-pointers in a medal-winning game. Kevin Durant made the same three-pointer in the 2010 Turkey final.
Even more striking, however, is the appreciation of locals for this legendary performance. It was one of Brooks' free throws in the first half that inspired their idiom of chanting "M-V-P".
However, this is not the norm for Brooks.
His notoriety, insolence, menacing defense and tenacious style of play drew boos throughout the World Cup. To his credit, he did nothing but receive boos.
"I'm grateful from the beginning, everyone who bapped me on Twitter or Instagram," Brooks said. It just helps me get better every day and motivates me to do better for my teammates on the pitch. "
Teammate Lou Dort: "He's a real villain, that's Dillon's job, he never shies away from these kinds of games and I admire him. He's put in a lot of effort and the time I've spent with him in the last few weeks has been a blessing and he's a great guy. "
When Sunday's game against Team USA, the audience repeated their voices, no longer "villains", and the entire audience chanted "M-V-P!" in unison.
Brooks: "You have to keep going. They will like you when you perform well, just like now. But when you have a bad game, they start all over again. So you have to keep trying. "