Justin Brownlee–MARLO CUETIO/INQUIRER.net
Justin Brownlee finally found a way to be truly effective for Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Governors’ Cup championship series.
And he did so by taking a page from the enemy’s playbook in Game 3 before returning to his normal self a game later.
Denied of his three-point shooting, the resident Gin Kings import turned to his defensive chops to help Ginebra break through in the finale against defending champion TNT last Friday.
“It’s the Finals. And I think that’s where this is going to be won: On the defensive end,” he said following an 85-73 victory at Smart Araneta Coliseum that chopped down the Tropang Giga’s lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
“At least that’s proven to be the case these past three games.”
Brownlee then got some offense going in Game 4 as the Kings equalized after a 106-92 victory also at the Big Dome on Sunday.
Brownlee had four blocks and a steal on top of his 18-point showing in Game 3. But what wasn’t shown on the stats sheets was how he took the fight out of the Tropang Giga when it mattered most.
He did it by shackling counterpart Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the winner of the Best Import derby, in the final seven minutes of the contest—the clamping down proving to be the turning point of what was a tight contest.
In Game 4, Brownlee got away with 34 points, his highest in the series thus far as Ginebra won a second straight game and will be playing with momentum come the critical fifth game.
Brownlee felt that TNT enjoyed early success because of defense.
“TNT has played, even in this game, incredible defense. And that’s where we have to either match or be better [at],” he said.
A number of high-scoring standouts have made the switch to becoming defenders in this series, the biggest of them being TNT’s Roger Pogoy. So Brownlee applying the same tweak to his game should no longer come as a surprise.
“If I’m missing or making, I just got to stay confident. Remaining confident is definitely going to be key. I just try to find openings, try to get shots,” he said.
“Shots will come [within] the flow of the game. But the defense? that’s something you got to do [with] effort.” INQ