Brownlee, handa nang sumabak kontra New Zealand sa FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers

All set at handa na ang Gin Kings longtime import na si Justin Brownlee na pangunahan ang Gilas Pilipinas kontra New Zealand sa kanilang sagupaan sa FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers sa Mall of Asia Arena sa Pasay City mamayang gabi. 

Unang makakaharap ng Gilas ang New Zealand na kaperhas nilang nasa unang pwesto sa Group B at kapwa mayroong dalawang panalo at wala pang talo. Sakaling manalo ang Gilas ay mapapalapit na sila sa FIBA Asia Cup 2025 na gaganapin sa buwan ng Agosto sa Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Inilarawan ni Gilas head coach Tim Cone si Brownlee na “highly motivated” kahit na nakaranas ng pagkabigo ang Gin Kings sa katatapos na PBA Governors’ Cup Finals kung saan natalo sila ng TNT. 

“Talking to him after the finals, he is highly-motivated. When you see Justin highly-motivated, we’ve seen him highly-motivated in the past and what he could do. I don’t think anybody has anything to fear about Justin. He is ready. He is ready to go. I think he is going to put up some real nice performances for the country coming up.  I think you are going to see a really motivated Justin coming into this New Zealand (game),” ani Cone. 

Ayon pa kay Cone, hindi rin biro ang pinagdaanang hirap ni Brownlee sa katatapos nilang laban sa PBA kamakailan kung kaya nangailangan lang umano ito ng sapat na pahinga at kahit na hindi ito naging masaya sa kinalabasan ng kanilang performance kontra TNT subalit mas lalo itong naging motivated ngayon. 

“Justin is more motivated to bounce back. And I’m looking forward to that. He struggled, we all struggled in the series. People started thinking that he was having injuries or not. It was just a tough, long playoff going through Meralco and San Miguel. And then having to go against Talk ‘N Text and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. It was a tough road,”  dagdag pa ni Cone.

Sa kabila nang pagiging motivated ni Brownlee, nagpaalala naman si Cone sa kanyang koponan dahil nasa isang mahirap na sitwasyon ngayon ang Gilas laban sa New Zealand na rank No. 22 sa buong mundo at No. 3 naman sa FIBA ​​Asia zone.

“I think Justin is going to be ready to play. That doesn’t mean he puts up big numbers. That means he is going to be locked in to what we do, get his teammates involved, and play the game the right way, which he does 99 percent of the time,”  saad pa ni Cone.

Matatandaang nitong Miyerkules ng gabi ay inihayag na ng Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) ang 12-man lineup ng Gilas Pilipinas kung saan bukod kay Brownlee ay kasama din sa listahan ng mga maglalaro sina June Mar Fajardo, Kai Sotto, Japeth Aguilar, Carl Tamayo, Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana , CJ Perez, Dwight Ramos, at Kevin Quiambao.

Huling naglaban ang Gilas at New Zealand noong 2022 FIBA Asia Cup kung saan nakaranas ng pagkatalo ang Gilas, 75-92.