As Gilas Pilipinas remarkably kept their hopes of qualifying for the upcoming Paris Olympics over the past couple of days on the back of Justin Brownlee’s heroics, coach Tim Cone stated in no uncertain terms the game changer he believes he has on his hands.
On Wednesday, as Philippines opened their Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga by stunning world No. 6 Latvia — who were also enjoyed home advantage — with a 89-80 upset, Brownlee led the way with a game-high 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
A day later, the 36-year-old followed up with 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as Gilas rallied from a slow start before ultimately losing 96-94 to Georgia, with the narrow defeat still enough to see them make unexpected progress to the semifinals of the OQT — where they will meet Brazil on Saturday.
Cone is well familiar with Brownlee given their time together in the Philippine Basketball Association with Barangay Ginebra and have shared six championships dating as far back as 2016.
But if Brownlee’s career had panned out the way the Gilas coach feels it should rightfully have, then their paths might never have crossed — and the entire nation of the Philippines might not have their naturalized forward to thank for still being in with a chance to reach the Olympic men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 1972.
“I’ve said it before — somebody in the NBA missed out on this guy (Brownlee),” said Cone, in the postgame news conference after Thursday’s meeting with Georgia.
“They weren’t on the ball. They should have seen this guy. He should never have been in the Philippines. He should have been in the NBA.
“He’s a ‘big moment’ guy. He’s proven that over and over again. What he’s doing here in this tournament is no surprise whatsoever (considering) what we’ve seen throughout his career in the Philippines.
“He’s dominant there. He executes to a T and he’s always engaged. And when he’s aggressive, there’s just nobody better than him.”
Having played college basketball for the New York City-based St. John’s Red Storm, Brownlee was passed on in the 2011 NBA draft and largely spent the earlier part of his career in the NBA Developmental League (now G League).
Brownlee did feature in the 2013 NBA Summer League for the New York Knicks and even signed a contract ahead of the upcoming season but, after being waived, Brownlee would eventually spend time in Europe before landing on Philippine shores — where he has since achieved tremendous success.
Cone shared his belief that a big part of Brownlee’s influence comes from his ability to bring out the best in those around him.
It is a sentiment that has been backed up in recent days with Kai Sotto labelling him “the Michael Jordan of Philippines”, while Dwight Ramos said Brownlee was the best teammate he has ever had.
With his face immediately giving off a bashful smile as he was asked about those plaudits, Brownlee replied: “I really appreciate the compliment from both guys.
“I always pride myself on being a really good teammate. (I) try to gel with the guys, try to get the guys going, and try to play off of guys and get them playing off me as well.
“We’re excited to be here. (We have to) give a lot of credit to coach Tim). He made some great adjustments for us in the game to get us back going and we (managed to get) a good rhythm.
“Overall, (I’m) just excited to be in the semis.”
