Ginebra’s semis exit fuels Justin Brownlee’s drive for Governors’ Cup

MANILA, Philippines—Justin Brownlee is one of those rare imports who despite the different height limits in the reinforced conferences has thrived in the PBA given his natural physique and God-given talent.

At 6-foot-5, Brownlee is Barangay Ginebra’s resident Governors’ Cup import during the third conference with an impressive resume in the past three years.

But it’s in the Commissioner’s Cup, though, that Brownlee won his only Best Import award in 2018 after leading the Gin Kings to the title, which the crowd favorites failed to defend after a 3-1 loss to TNT in the semifinals this year.

Ever the consummate professional, Brownlee said the semifinals loss to the KaTropa would just motivate him further going into the third conference.

“Hopefully this would give us some fuel going into the next conference,” said Brownlee after the 103-92 loss in Game 4 that ended their campaign. “We definitely didn’t want it to end like this but things happen.

“We just got to bounce back and see what we did wrong in this conference, even though it’d be a lot different because of the imports. We’d just build on what we’ve got and what we did this conference.”

Brownlee was matched up against 6-foot-9 Terrence Jones during the semifinals and admitted to have experienced difficulties during games.

Jones is not only bigger than Brownlee but he’s also a legitimate NBA player after playing six seasons in the league with the Houston Rockers and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Throughout his stay, Jones averaged 10.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks.

“He’s got guard skills and he’s 6-foot-9 and he’s pretty heavy and I’m defending him and whether he’s inside or outside he can still give you problems,” said Brownlee.

It’s this kind of respect that ultimately led Brownlee to verbally relinquish the Best Import award to Jones.

Both imports had similar numbers throughout the series with Jones averaging 23.8 points, 15.5 rebounds, and 7.8 assists while Brownlee was at 22.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 6.3 assists.

Still, Jones was the one who advanced to the finals and not Brownlee.

“He made it to the finals so he gets it that’s how I usually see it happening,” said Brownlee.