By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team head coach Tim Cone recently shared the plans of naturalized player Justin Brownlee now that the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers is over.
According to the seasoned tactician, the resident import of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is considering playing overseas after receiving multiple offers.
Cone then said that the national team and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) don’t have issues if Brownlee decides to accept the offer and they will lend their full support with whatever plans he will make.
“If he goes and play, and he’s got a contract in June, July, and August, he’ll still like Kai be able to come back and join us for the window. We’re all for him going out and staying in shape,” Cone said.
After the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, Gilas will return to the world stage this July for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).
The national team will kick off its Paris Olympics quest on July 4, 2024, against Latvia and will face Georgia the day after.
When asked if Brownlee will be back in time for the national team preparations for the OQT, Cone replied that expect the star small forward to be available because he is the country’s naturalized player.
“If he goes and plays somewhere, he goes and plays in Europe or Japan or Korea or the Middle East, which is he played in before, he’ll always be available for the window because he’s a naturalized player,” added Cone.
Coming off a three-month layoff due to a doping violation, Brownlee showed that he is still the same efficient player during Gilas’ sweeping campaign against Hong Kong and Chinese-Taipei.
Against Hong Kong, Brownlee tallied 16 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. In front of his Filipino fans against Chinese-Taipei, the spitfire swingman erupted for 26 markers, 13 boards, five dimes, and two blocks.
