JUSTIN Brownlee will play his first competitive game in four months as he marks his return to Gilas Pilipinas on Thursday in a road game against Hong Kong at the start of the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers.
Brownlee is back on the court after a retroactive three-month period of ineligibility for a positive doping test last October in the Asian Games.
Over that period, Brownlee didn't see any action for Barangay Ginebra, as the team chose not to bring him in as its import for the PBA Commissioner's Cup due to the looming sanction.
Brownlee hopes he's not rusty
Now back, the Gilas naturalized player is hoping to display his best game possible in his comeback to the court.
“I hope not,” said Brownlee, when asked about the possibility of being rusty for the Hong Kong game. “But of course, I don’t expect to play at my best. But I think, in due time, I can be back to that level.”
The 35-year-old Brownlee expressed confidence that he will get back to his usual form over time now that he is slowly getting into rhythm through the practices that Gilas Pilipinas underwent in preparation for Hong Kong.
Justin says he still got a lot left in the tank
“I’m a little bit older but I still think I got a lot left in the tank. Coming over versus Hong Kong, I hope it’s no rust,” said Brownlee.
Brownlee and company hope for an auspicious start to Tim Cone’s journey as Gilas Pilipinas head coach under a four-year program where the 12 players will be kept intact as much as possible with an ultimate goal of reaching the Fiba Basketball World Cup 2027 in Qatar and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Brownlee said the respite has also allowed him to become healthier and rest his ankle after sustaining an injury that also bothered him during the Asian Games.
“Just coming from that surgery before the Asian Games, these last few months definitely gave me a lot of time to heal and just prepare myself. I’m a little bit older now so whenever I can get some rest, unfortunately, it came in the way it did, but whenever I can get some rest, I’ll take it,” said Brownlee.
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.
