GINEBRA coach Tim Cone tinkered with options before Game 4 last Friday night.
There were naturalized Ange Kouame and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson as possible replacements in a duel that would have buried the Kings to a 1-3 series hole.
But Justin Brownlee—doubtful due to a dislocated right thumb suffered in Game 3—refused to let Ginebra and its die-hard fans down. The Never-Say-Die mantra kicked in.
“This guy came out and played 45 minutes, 46 minutes, and did what he did through all that pain,” Cone said. “I really haven’t seen anything that amazing in my career, in my 35 years, in 36 years.
“Seeing a guy have that kind of injury and come back and be able to play at the kind of level he’s played at. Kudos to him,” he added.
Cone spoke after the 6-foot-5 Brownlee fought through his injury and turned in a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, on top of five assists and two blocks as the Kings pulled off a 95-78 victory over the TNT Tropang Giga in Game 4 of the best-of-7 finals showdown for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title.
“I thought he was out for the series, frankly. We even (looked at) Ange Kouame to see if he could replace Justin. But then Justin said, ‘I think I can play.’”
Knotted at 2-2, the pivotal fifth game of the race-to-4 battle was played at press time last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Cone’s description of the severity of Brownlee’s injury was an understatement.
“I just got to add that this may sound a little gross, but when you take that tape off his thumb, his thumb falls out, just literally falls out like that,” Cone said. “I mean, it doesn’t even stay in, the joint, it just literally falls out. That’s secured in there right now. But the moment that tape comes out, there’s no security at all.
“It just automatically falls out of the joint. So, it automatically dislocates.”
But Ginebra physical therapist Arcee Cua did a tremendous job of making sure the Gilas Pilipinas naturalized star would have a chance of suiting up.
“So, you gotta give Arcee and the training group a huge thank you because they got him in a position where they can put a tape in and secure that thumb,” he said.
That broken thump can actually pave the way for an epic Big Dance side story—if and when Brownlee carries the Kings to the Promised Land anew.
“I don’t want to jinx myself, but I kind of got a good feel for it now,” Brownlee said.
