Banged-up Brownlee wants to rest, recover

Rest is on top of Justin Brownlee’s agenda following a grueling campaign in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.

Brownlee said he wants to recuperate before reinforcing Gilas Pilipinas in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers that the country will host on 21 and 25 November at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The 36-year-old naturalized player looked tired during their finals series against TNT Tropang Giga that wrapped up last Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In Game 6, in fact, he was held to only 16 points as he failed to overcome the punishing defense of Roger Pogoy that led to their 85-95 loss.

Brownlee said he is not thinking of anything right now but to recover and regain his fighting form.

“Just try to get over it first, you know, it’s a tough loss for us,” said Brownlee, who is gearing up against New Zealand and Hong Kong in the second window of the qualifiers.

“Like I said, we fought hard. Definitely, still got a responsibility to go out there and fight for the country. We got two tough opponents — New Zealand and Hong Kong.”

Ginebra coach acknowledged the fatigue that his resident import is nursing, saying that they still have yet to decide if he will return for another tour of duty in the Commissioner’s Cup later this month.

“It’s a little unfair for him at this point. He played in Indonesia, he got here, had to have this long conference, then now he has to do Gilas. Then, he still has to go to the next conference,” Cone said.

“It’s his choice. We’re not going to make that decision for him.”

Still, Cone stressed that Brownlee is the only import they have in mind at this point.

“He’s going to decide on his own whether he wants to play or not,” the American mentor said.

“At this point, we’re not looking at all for a backup. We don’t have anybody in mind.”