Brownlee ready for Asia Cup?

MANILA, Philippines — An evaluation of the stability in Justin Brownlee’s relocated right thumb will be made this week to determine if surgery is required to address the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear that he suffered while diving for a loose ball in Game 3 of the recently-concluded PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.

Dr. Randy Molo said yesterday an X-Ray and MRI will be done to find out the extent of the UCL injury. “I’ve coordinated his evaluation with a hand surgeon to check stability,” he added. “Justin will see my colleague Dr. Henry Calleja at St. Luke’s BGC. Dr. Calleja is the same doctor who helped me manage Scottie Thompson’s hand when he broke it prior to the FIBA World Cup. An X-Ray was done on the night Justin dislocated it and yes, no fracture so I cleared him to play on a right thumb set up to improve function and stability.”

Surgery will be recommended if the thumb is unstable. The recovery period from a thumb procedure is four to six months. From Brownlee’s performance in the four games after sustaining the injury, it appears the thumb is both functional and stable. Brownlee averaged 22.8 points in the last four contests of the Finals with his thumb heavily taped and shot 4-of-9 from three in Game 7 last Friday. Brownlee’s recovery showed a progressive trend as in Game 7, he fired 28 points on 12-of-30 from the floor.

“For sure, the timeline goal is to have his hand available, functional and optimized in time for the FIBA Asia Cup preparations and camp,” noted Dr. Molo. The FIBA Asia Cup is set on Aug. 5-17 in Jeddah.

Brownlee’s Gilas teammate Chris Newsome said he endured two dislocated fingers but never had surgery. “It was my pinky that got dislocated two years ago and my middle finger was dislocated during the Gilas game against Lebanon last month,” said Newsome. “No surgery, splint for two days. No fracture so recovery time was short. Fingers aren’t 100 percent normal until now but good enough to play through.”