NATURALIZED star Justin Brownlee showing his teammates how it’s done hardly surprises Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone.
For Cone, the 6-foot-5 Brownlee ages like fine wine.
“I remember people coming up to me like three or four years ago saying, ‘You got to look for a replacement for Justin. He’s getting older.’ Three or four years later, he’s even better than he was three or four years ago,” Cone said.
“The guy ages like fine wine. It seems like the more experience he has, the more he learns,” he added.
With Brownlee, 36, standing tall in Gilas’ campaign in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament earlier this month, the Nationals just fell two wins short of what could have been a riveting Paris Games stint.
He led the Filipino cagers with averages of 23 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in the Latvia OQT.
Cone, who also coaches Brownlee at Ginebra, readily admitted there will be a time the six-time champion import in the pro league and three-time best import will call it a career–but not now.
“Justin, as he plays at a different level, he just continues to raise his game,” Cone said.
“But Father Time catches up with all of us and it’s certainly catching up with me. I know that.
“There’s going to be a time when we’re probably going to move on from Justin. I don’t see that anytime soon, though. Do you? The level he’s playing, why would we?”
While Cone does not see Brownlee hanging up his jersey for good in the foreseeable future, his prized ward still has what it takes to lead the Kings and Gilas on his shoulders.
“I think it’ll be obvious for us at some point. He’ll know and we’ll know, but I don’t see that time happening anytime soon,” he said. “He’s just playing at way too high of a level.
“He just keeps getting better.”
