Gilas Pilipinas’ waiting game for naturalized player Justin Brownlee continues.

On Thursday at the start of the national team’s training camp in South Korea, there was still no assurance that the 38-year-old workhorse would suit up for Gilas’ gold medal defense in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games starting next week.

“We haven’t had a confirmation yet from Justin whether he’s going to be here or not. The door is still open for him,” Cone said in a Zoom press conference.

The all-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) stars-composed Gilas left for Korea on Wednesday for the final stretch of its build-up.

Gilas will play a couple of tune-up matches with the Korean national team before flying to Nagoya on Monday for the Asiad basketball competition starting on 10 September.

Cone and the rest of Gilas will wait until then for any development on the Brownlee situation.

The four-time PBA Best Import, whose heroics in the pandemic-delayed Hangzhou edition three years ago ended the country’s 61-year gold medal drought, has yet to get clearance to play following a spate of injuries, including hamstring and knee issues.

Brownlee last played for Gilas back on 3 July in a 102-106 overtime loss to New Zealand in Auckland in the third window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. He then sat out the window’s last stop in Perth in a blowout defeat to Australia.

He went to the United States for rehabilitation and recovery, which forced him to miss Gilas’ two-game homestand sweep in the World Cup Qualifiers fourth window, citing that he’s “not healthy enough to contribute.”

“He’s still working on clearances from doctors in the States. So, as soon as that’s all cleared up, we’ll have a clearer picture as well,” Cone said.

The mentor added that there will be no replacement for Brownlee.

“But at this point, no, we don’t have a 12th player in mind to come over. There are certain budget restraints in terms of traveling with a lot of different people and in terms of hotels and airline tickets and the like. So, we’ve kept that 12th spot open for Justin if he can make it,” Cone said.

The Philippines begins its back-to-back campaign with a clash against Bahrain on the 11th followed by a showdown against Kazakhstan the following day. Gilas battles China on the 14th in a rematch of the semifinal in the previous Asiad.

Bracing for a worst-case scenario, Cone said of the possibility of playing an 11-man, all-Filipino squad.

“Yes, there is a chance. If we look back at the OQT (Olympic Qualifying Tournament), we lost Scottie (Thompson) right before the tournament. We ended up going with 11 and we didn’t miss a beat there,” he said.

“I think we’ll be fine. These guys are all willing to play extended minutes. I think 11 is a really good number from a coaching standpoint, in terms of not feeling like you have to force some guys who should be out there longer to play less because you want other guys to play,” Cone added.

“You want other guys to get satisfied. I don’t know if you know what I mean. But it’s easier from a coaching standpoint having, oftentimes, less players than it is than having more.”

Gilas, despite the possible absence of Brownlee, remains formidable with Robert Bolick, Don Trollano, Jerrick Ahanmisi, Sedrick Barefield, Zav Lucero, Adrian Nocum, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Brandon Bates, RJ Abarrientos, Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar.