MARKED MAN: All eyes on Brownlee as Gilas plunges into action

Scoring 50-plus points in the pro league is one thing. But getting the same numbers, or just near those digits, is another when it comes to international play.

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee knows he’s a marked man when Gilas Pilipinas battles host New Zealand to start its campaign in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier next month.

Brownlee and the rest of the Philippine squad brace for a highly physical second meeting with the Tall Blacks in Auckland on 3 July.

Tied with 2-2 slates after the first two windows of the first round, the two squads clash in a rematch that is expected to be as explosive and tight as the last time.

“We know that they’re a physical team, so we got to match their physicality, number one, I think,” Brownlee said.

“Yeah, they’re a physical team, so we just want to be able to match their physicality and understand and know how to play through that and just be aggressive,” he added.

The 38-year-old Brownlee will be New Zealand’s main focus on defense.

In fact, the Kiwis were able to hold Brownlee to just four points in their previous showdown last February.

The resident Barangay Ginebra import in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) shot 2-of-10 from the field in a 66-69 loss in the second window last 26 February at the Mall of Asia Arena.

He played for almost 34 minutes but was barely felt on the offensive end with Dwight Ramos, CJ Perez and Juan Gomez de Liano doing the heavy lifting in scoring.

Brownlee, who scored 54 and 52 points in Games 5 and 6 of the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup finals that the Kings won over TNT in seven games recently, vows to make up for his subpar outing five months ago.

“No matter what they do as far as guarding us, we just want to be aggressive,” Brownlee said.

The four-time PBA Best Import winner banners a much younger Gilas crew with hopes of ending a four-game head-to-head losing skid to the Tall Blacks.

The Philippines brought in 6-foot-8 Mike Phillips and 6-foot-9 Converge big man Justine Baltazar to reinforce its frontline in the absence of 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto and 6-foot-11 Quentin Millora-Brown.

Gilas will also be missing the services of injured Scottie Thompson and Calvin Oftana.

The Nationals left for Brisbane, Australia last Tuesday for a training camp before flying to New Zealand for a couple of tune-up games against local clubs, the Manawatu Jets and the Franklin Bulls, on 28 and 30 June, respectively.

Brownlee as the only remaining elder statesman in the Tim Cone-mentored squad following the retirement of 39-year-old Japeth Aguilar last year, admitted of feeling old in the presence of his teammates.

“I’m not trying to think about it,” Brownlee quipped.

“But I have to admit, maybe just a little bit,” he added, smiling.

Brownlee came into the team as a naturalized player at the age of 34 and has since carried the tricolor to different international tourneys, including a gold medal conquest in the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago that ended the Philippines’ 61-year championship drought.

Holdover June Mar Fajardo is the closest to Brownlee’s age gap at 36 while Chris Newsome and Troy Rosario are aged 35 and 34, respectively, for this group of Gilas.