Justin Brownlee and Gilas Pilipinas during a tune-up game against Taiwan Mustangs ahead of the Fiba OQT. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Rankings are not even in Gilas Pilipinas’ minds heading into the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
At least that’s how Justin Brownlee views it.
After Gilas’ runaway 74-64 win over the Taiwan Mustangs at Philsports Arena on Monday, Brownlee admitted that he and the squad are well aware of the beasts they’ll have to face in less than two weeks over in Latvia.
That, though, isn’t posing a problem for the National team as they’re trusting the process under coach Tim Cone.
READ: Gilas Pilipinas beats Taiwan Mustangs in tune-up before OQT
“No matter if they’re ranked higher than us, they put on their shoes like we put on our shoes and we’ll come in to represent the country in the right way, in the best way we can,” said Brownlee.
“It’s going to be tough, really tough for us but that’s why we’re here. We’re going to play against the best in the world and of course, if you want to be Olympians and qualify, you have to play with the best in the world.”
Brownlee played his role as a guard/forward to perfection on Monday’s win with the absence of star guard, Scottie Thompson.
READ: Gilas won’t win all the time but team will make PH proud, says Tim Cone
With Gilas’ general playmaker out, Brownlee took over and dropped 15 assists with 12 points and five rebounds to match.
Brownlee’s unselfishness on the playing court allowed the Gilas swingmen to all score, not leaving anyone without points at the final buzzer.
But ball movement has always been one of the memos for Gilas under coach Tim Cone along with fundamentals that the Nationals shouldn’t rush the process en route to the OQT.
“You know Coach Tim told us that we definitely can’t rush the process, we’re taking it just one day at a time trying to get to a point where we’re about 10 days or so? Where we want to be playing at a high level so we can’t jump and get there right away.”
“The next 10 days, we’re gonna get as close as we can and I think we’ll be playing really well.”
Before Gilas flies to Latvia next month, they will be competing in more friendlies over in Europe against Turkey and Poland.