TIM Cone read New Zealand’s game plan very well and knew its going to be a long, bruising night for Justin Brownlee.
The Gilas Pilipinas mentor expected the Tall Blacks to deny Brownlee the ball in every possession, and let his young guns take over the offensive chores that came close to toppling the home team in their third window showdown in the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
The Filipinos lost, 106-102, but not after dragging the host into two overtime periods in a game that wasn’t decided until the final 10 seconds of the second extra time before a sellout crowd at the Sphere Arena in Auckland.
“With the way they were playing Justin - doubling him when he got the ball and bodying him up through screens - that opened it up for KQ (Kevin Quiambao), Dwight (Ramos), and Juan (Gomez De Liano) to get good scoring numbers and RJ to pick up 10 assists. That was the game plan going in, and Justin read the game very well,” disclosed Cone to Spin.ph a day after the game.
READ: Tall Blacks once again remain Justin Brownlee's bane
In the post-game presser, New Zealand coach Judd Flavell seconded Cone’s assessment, saying the Tall Blacks ‘did a great job on him (Brownlee),’ aware that the naturalized player is the focal point of Gilas Pilipinas’ offense.
Brownlee finished with only five points on 2-of-3 shooting, but added eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
The double teaming of the Tall Blacks and their physical plays likewise took its toll on Brownlee’s 38-year-old body.
“He [got] tired in the overtimes, because of his lack of practice time in the trip,” said Cone of the Ginebra import who didn’t play in the two friendlies Gilas had against two NBL teams prior to the game.
“He was nursing a bad knee.”
Still Cone lauded the way Gilas stayed toe-to-toe against the world no. 24 ranked team, which it had on the ropes a couple of times, but couldn’t finish off the job due to bad decisions in the endgame.
“Despite the physicality, we played a highly efficient game, scoring over a hundred points in a fifty minute game,” said the 68-year-old mentor. “The game was lost with missed free throws and too much fouling in the overtimes.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
