JUSTIN Brownlee is back in the country for the start of the Gilas Pilipinas training camp for the coming Olympic Qualifying Tournament this weekend.
“Yes, he’s now here in the country,” said team manager Richard Del Rosario of the well-liked naturalized player who is coming off fresh from his stint with Pelita Jaya in the Basketball Champions League Asia.
Brownlee, who came over here on Tuesday, and his Indonesia ballclub finished their campaign with a 2-1 record, but failed to advance in the semis after losing out in the tiebreak.
READ Brownlee, Pelita Jaya beat Korea side, but miss semis spot in tiebreak
The Barangay Ginebra resident import arrived in the country in time for the national team’s training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna that starts this Friday.
The team however, will be without its two young big men in AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo due to injury issues. Malonzo is currently going through rehab after having surgery on his left calf.
Edu has yet to fully recover from a knee injury that also kept him out earlier in Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the opening window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers
Reserves Japeth Aguilar and Mason Amos are taking over the spots of both Edu and Malonzo.
Other members of the team expected fir training camp are PBA Philippine Cup finalists June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, and Chris Newsome, Scottie Thompson, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, and Kai Sotto.
The entire team is expected to fly out of the country on June 25, according to Del Rosario, to play a pair of tune-up games against the national teams of Turkey and Poland.
The final qualifier is set July 2-7 in Latvia, where the Philippines is bracketed with the host country and Georgia.
The other group is composed of Cameroon, Brazil, and Montenegro.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the crossover semis, before the two winning teams dispute one of the four remaining berths in basketball for the Paris Games.
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