Gilas Pilipinas’ Justin Brownlee during a Fiba Olympic qualifying game. –FIBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone has no doubt that Justin Brownlee will show up in the second window of the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers without any shortage of motivation.
During a presser in Mandaluyong on Wednesday, Cone bared that his recent conversations with Brownlee showed the Ginebra import’s eagerness to bounce back after falling short in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals at the hands of TNT.
As Cone would put it, there’s no better way for Brownlee to bounce back than at an international level.
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“I think you’re going to see a really motivated Justin coming into this game versus New Zealand,” said a confident Cone.
“After talking to him after the Finals, he’s highly motivated and when you see him highly motivated, I don’t think anybody has anything to fear. He’s ready, he’ll be raring to go and I think he’ll put up some really nice performances for the country.”
Brownlee averaged 19.67 points, 7.33 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in the six-game stretch of the Finals against the Tropang Giga but it just wasn’t enough to bring the crown to the Ginebra camp.
In the last two games, though, Brownlee showed his vulnerability, which TNT took full advantage of.
Fans speculated whether or not the longtime Gin Kings import played hurt because of the way he competed for Ginebra but Cone assured that Gilas’ naturalized swingman isn’t nursing any injuries at all.
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“He struggled, we all struggled in that series and people started thinking he had injuries. It was just a tough, long playoffs, going through Meralco, SMB then having to go up against TNT and RHJ, it was a tough road and we limped to the finish line,” Cone said.
“Everybody saw us limping and assumed that’s the way we are generally but we’re not that. Justin will have about eight, nine days off before he gets back into work and I think that’s a big breather for him.”