BROWNLEE OUT

BROWNLEE OUT | Daily Tribune

Head coach Tim Cone dropped the bomb on Monday just four days before Gilas plunges into the first of its two must-win homestands at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“The big elephant in the room right now is that Justin is not here and most likely not play,” Cone said in a press conference at the same Pasay venue.

“So, we’ll be going without Justin and that’s a big adjustment,” Cone added.

The 38-year-old forward has yet to return to the Philippines after spending his rehabilitation from hamstring, ankle, knee and leg injuries in the United States.

Brownlee’s absence is a huge blow for the national squad that’s already hanging by a thread in the race for the top four spot in Group E with a 2-4 carryover win-loss record.

Gilas, which is on a four-game losing skid, squares off with Jordan (5-1) on Friday before taking on Iran (5-1) on Sunday.

Brownlee has been out for more than a month since suiting up for Gilas in a 102-106 double overtime loss to New Zealand in Auckland on 3 July. He was already playing through pain and was limited to just five points in the loss.

The four-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Best Import sat out Gilas’ 49-92 blowout loss at the hands of Australia in Perth.

Hopes were high for Gilas in the fourth window with Brownlee expected to be back alongside other overseas-based players and with the return of 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto.

But days went by, and Brownlee has been a no-show in practice.

“He's telling us that he's just not healthy enough,” Cone said.

Delays in the naturalization procedure for Bennie Boatwright and Ange Kouame playing in Europe left Cone with no other option but to proceed without a naturalized player.

“In the meantime, we couldn't get Bennie Boatwright. His papers are done, (but) he still doesn't have his passport. He hasn't had his final approval yet, so we haven't been able to get that done,” Cone said.

“And then, our other naturalized player that we would have brought, Ange Kouame, he is in France under contract. So, we're going to be attending this window all-Filipino.”

Gilas will be missing a lot with Brownlee out.

Brownlee averaged 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists in five games in the World Cup Qualifiers.

Filling up the void left by Brownlee will take a collective effort from the rest of the team.

“Everybody knows that JB is a great player. He’s one of the best imports to ever play in the PBA. He knows the system very well. But again, it’s gonna take everybody, it’s not gonna be one person that makes up for JB’s absence,” Gilas veteran guard Chris Newsome said.

“It’s gonna be all of us to pitch in and contribute in any way that we can.”

Young gun Carl Tamayo will have a bigger role this time, being the designated reliever of Brownlee in the past windows.

“I think this will be a big challenge for all of us because we all know how big of a part JB is for the national team especially in the system of coach Tim,” Tamayo said.

“This is the challenge in front of us. So, everybody has to work together to fill in for JB’s absence in this window. I think we’re practicing hard for this window and hopefully, we’ll get the two wins for a bigger chance to play in the World Cup,” he added.

Under the second-round format, each team battles the squads it has not played in the first round twice.

Gilas is also joined by Syria (2-4), Australia (6-0) and New Zealand (4-2) in the group.

Lebanon (5-1), Japan (4-2), Qatar (4-2), Saudi Arabia (3-3), South Korea (3-3) and China (3-3) are in Group F.

The top four teams in each group will earn seats to the 27 August to 12 September World Cup in Qatar.