Brownlee still Gilas' main naturalized player amid Boatwright arrival

MANILA, Philippines -- Justin Brownlee remains to be Gilas Pilipinas' naturalized import in the foreseeable future, national team head coach Tim Cone said.

This, after Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio confirmed that former San Miguel import Bennie Boatwright agreed to be a naturalized player for Gilas.

"Yes, [Boatwright] agreed. We will start the process," he said in a Viber message.

Cone said that Brownlee, who led Gilas to its first gold medal in 61 years in last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, will continue to be the naturalized player for the Philippines, at least in the upcoming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia.

"As far as I know, we have an agreement that he is already submitting papers to naturalize. This could be a process, usually a long process, three, four, maybe eight months, we don't know. It took Justin a long time to get his," the PBA's most-titled coach said.

"Without a doubt, and this is written in stone right now, Justin's our guy. Bennie is gonna be his backup, just like Justin was a backup to Jordan Clarkson in the World Cup. We're gonna go with that at the moment," he added.

With these, Cone underscored just how talented the sweet-shooting big man is.

"I was the one that asked for him. I think he's a tremendous talent, he's got great size and he can play in and out. He's very versatile. Kinda reminds me of a young Justin, just like three or four inches taller," the coach stressed.

"He's a young guy and we have to get him into practice, get him into the system and everything else but it's a long ways away. That's not gonna happen tomorrow, that's not gonna happen next month, in June or July. When we go to Latvia, it's gonna be Justin being the guy doing that."

The 27-year-old forward was pivotal in San Miguel's PBA Commissioner's Cup title conquest last month.