Fired-up, rested Brownlee ready for Gilas duty — Cone

MANILA, Philippines — Expect a “motivated” performance from Justin Brownlee in Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the November window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, Gilas head coach Tim Cone said. 

Brownlee, who recently lost in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals for Cone’s Barangay Ginebra, is expected to play for Gilas as the naturalized player in both New Zealand and Hong Kong games next week. 

The six-game loss against the TNT Tropang Giga, as well as a few days’ rest, is expected to boost the beloved import, according to Cone. 

“I was just saying, I think you're all gonna see a really motivated Justin coming into this (game vs) New Zealand. He struggled, we all struggled in this series. People started thinking whether he had injuries or not. It was just a tough, long playoffs going through Meralco, San Miguel and then having to go against TNT and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson,” Cone told reporters Wednesday.

“I think Justin's gonna have about eight, nine days off before he gets back to work. That's gonna be a big breather for him. But after talking to him after the finals, he's highly motivated. And If you see Justin highly motivated? We've all seen him highly motivated in the past and what he could do,” he added. 

“So I don't think anybody really has anything to fear about Justin. He's ready, he'll be raring to go and I think he's gonna put up some real nice performances for the country coming up.” 

In the recent Governors’ Cup finals, Brownlee, averaged 19.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game on 42.9% field goal shooting against Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and the defensive-minded Tropang Giga. 

This is a far cry from Brownlee’s stellar performance in the eliminations and in the first two rounds of the playoffs. 

“I think the key was is that he just needed time to rest his body and his mind.

And, you know, eight, nine days doesn't seem like a lot of time. And it's not. I mean, but I think for Justin, it's enough. I know him well. I've known him for the last six, seven years. I see how he recovers and I think that he'll be primed,” Cone said. 

“So, you know, I'm motivated to bounce back. But even more so, Justin's motivated to bounce back. So I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to having him. And like I said, when I have a motivated Justin, watch out,” he added.

Brownlee is one of two naturalized players in the 15-man pool. The other is big man Ange Kouame. 

According to the Asian Games gold medal coach, Kouame will step in for Brownlee, “if something… happens to Justin.” 

“He knows what’s asked for him and he’ll be part of the preparation, it’s important to have him a part of a program as much as possible. [But,] he will most likely not be in the lineup because we expect Justin to play in both games,” he said. 

Despite this, Kouame will be a key guy for the Philippines, as he will be able to “enhance everything we do,” and prepare big man June Mar Fajardo to play against bigger players. 

The Philippines will take on New Zealand on Thursday, November 21, and Hong Kong on Sunday, November 24.