GILAS Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is convinced naturalized star Justin Brownlee can be the team’s bread and butter in the next four years.
“We know how good he is, how good of a teammate he is and he’s the lifeblood of this team,” Cone said.
“We’re happy that he’s back and we think he’ll play better against Taiwan and as we go forward,” he added.
The Philippine five clashed with Chinese Taipei last night, bidding to complete a 2-0 sweep of Group B in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers before an expected big crowd at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Brownlee, 35, showed the way for Gilas with 16 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in the Nationals’ 94-64 ripping of Hong Kong in their opening game last week.
Cone admitted Brownlee is still groping for form after a three-month hiatus due to a suspension for failing an anti-doping test in the Hangzhou Asian Games last October–that’s why he let his prized Ginebra import see action for extended minutes in their Hong Kong tiff.
“He really struggled at the beginning of the game. You can tell he had rust. He hasn’t played a game in four months, so he had a lot of rust to brush off,” Cone said.
“That’s why we continued to play him in the fourth. I told the bench we’ll keep Justin in there so he can continue to get his rhythm, so it was great to see him in the second half get his rhythm and be the Justin we know.”
The second round of the qualifiers is set for Nov. 21 and Nov. 24.
The 6-foot-5 Brownlee spearheads the 12-man line-up of Cone expected to stay for the next four years.
Also making up the squad are Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, June Mar Fajardo, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, Kai Sotto, and Kevin Quiambao.
Gilas wound up with a 1-4 slate under former strategist Chot Reyes for 24th in the 32-team field in the last World Cup that the Philippines co-hosted with Japan and Indonesia.
The Filipino dribbers will also face a tall task–seemingly a Mission Impossible–to clinch a slot in the Paris Olympics in July.
Gilas is grouped with host and world No. 8 Latvia, and No. 23 Georgia in Group A in the Olympic qualifying tournament in July.
The 38th-ranked Gilas quintet must finish in the top two of its group to advance to the crossover semifinals against the top two of Group B, which includes No. 12 Brazil, No. 17 Montenegro, and No. 67 Cameroon.
