THE whereabouts of Justin Brownlee remained a mystery as the country's naturalized import is again expected to miss Meralco's game against Group B top seed Taoyuan Pauian Pilots at the Taoyuan Arena in Taipei at the rsumption of the Home and Away Season 3 of the EASL on Sunday.
Brownlee was a no-show in Meralco's 81-72 loss to the Ryukyu Golden Kings last Oct. 22 in Okinawa, Japan and there has been no communication between the import and the team regarding the American's non-appearance which surely has befuddled Meralco management.
READ Brownlee whereabouts unknown as Meralco's EASL game draws near
PBA executives said they also have no idea where Brownlee is and even sources within Barangay Ginebra, where he is the star import, are also in the dark on his whereabouts.
Ginebra had given the import the go-signal to play and help the Bolts’ in their EASL bid.
Meanwhile, Sina Vahedi’s papers have yet to be officially secured, although SPIN.ph learned the star point guard of the Iranian national team has already been signed as Meralco's Asian import.
Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is again expected to carry the workload for the Bolts, who departed for Taipei following a two-game losing streak in their PBA Philippine Cup campaign against sister teams NLEX and TNT.
Hollis-Jefferson had an all-around game of 25 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, while Ismael Romero, a member of the Puerto Rican national squad, finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds in the loss against Ryukyu.
Chris Newsome and Cliff Hodge will be at the forefront of Meralco’s local roster, although sophomore CJ Cansino, who has been going great guns for the team in the first conference, has been left out of the roster after suffering an ankle injury during the Bolts’ 100-98 overtime loss to the Tropang 5G.
Rookie Jeff Comias has been added to the lineup in lieu of Cansino.
The Pilots meanwhile, will parade imports Setric Millner Jr and Alec Brown, naturalized player William Artino, and Asian import Amdy Dieng.
Taoyuan is on top of Group B with a 1-0 record after beating Ryukyu, 94-80, during the inaugural game also held in Taipei.
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