NO BROWNLEE, NO PROBLEM?

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone isn’t too worried about the absence of naturalized player Justin Brownlee in the team’s campaign in the crucial stage of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

He would rather focus on the positives and opportunities in his “all-Filipino” lineup for the second and most important round of Gilas’ bid for a fourth straight stint on the world stage.

In fact, Cone is stoked for his deeper frontline, with the return of youthful 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto and the chance for young guns Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao to step up and fill the huge void left by the injured main gunner Brownlee.

Gilas sans Brownlee remains formidable when it takes on Jordan on Friday and Iran on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena

Cone now has a trio of big men at his disposal in Sotto, 6-foot-11 AJ Edu and 6-foot-10 veteran June Mar Fajardo.

The decorated tactician has always been vocal about his desire to coach and play Edu and Sotto together since he took over the reins of Gilas three years ago.

But fate would not have it.

Edu was unavailable due to a meniscus tear he sustained while playing in the Japan B.League in early 2024, during the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier.

And when Edu returned, Sotto sustained a knee injury in early 2025 while also playing in Japan, which kept him out of Gilas duties for more than a year.

Cone now has a chance to utilize Gilas’ size for a change against the Middle Eastern giants.

“I’m really excited about that. You know, those guys, they complement each other, I think, very well,” Cone said.

“And I think it’s fun. And you add June Mar to the mix. We’ve got a real good big man rotation.”

Both Sotto and Edu are versatile bigs that can slide as forwards while the nine-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player Fajardo can wreak havoc down low.

“AJ and Kai are both versatile enough to play the four-position. So, it gives us a little bit of versatility in our front line,” Cone added.

“How much that’s used, we’re still debating on that. Whether we’ll go with big lineups or smaller lineups. But that gives us the versatility depending on our opponent. So, we’re looking forward to that.”

Cone, however, could only dream of the possibilities with a monster frontline complementing workhorse Brownlee, who unfortunately had to sit the window out.

The 38-year-old Brownlee cited that he’s not yet fully recovered from his hamstring and ankle issues.

“You know, ironically, we get Kai and AJ together. But now we’re missing Justin. So, you know, it would have been ideal, obviously, to have Justin,” Cone said.

“But from that, we have to move on and figure it out.”

Cone is also looking forward to Ramos, Quiambao and Tamayo playing bigger roles.

The trio has made a huge impact in Gilas’ previous windows.

Ramos is Gilas’ second leading scorer with an average of 13.5 points behind Brownlee (14.2).

“It’s gonna give more opportunity for guys like KQ and Carl to step up and get major minutes. For Dwight to be more of a take-charge guy,” Cone said.

“So, you know, you lose someone but that means other people get opportunities. And I’m gonna try to take advantage of those opportunities.”