WHY is Justin Brownlee a perfect fit for Gilas Pilipinas? It's definitely his versatility.
Take coach Mike Dunlap's word for it.
After all, the former Charlotte Bobcats coach was able to work with the resident Ginebra import during their time together at St. John's University in the US NCAA.
"He was one of those guys that were positionless before positionless became a fashionable word," he said in a recent Hoop Coaches International session. "He's smart and versatile, could score naturally. The unrealized potential at that time, he had a higher ceiling and he was gonna get better."
Dunlap was an associate to head coach Steve Lavin and was able to handle Brownlee in his final collegiate season when the Red Storm made it to the second round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
After graduation, the Tifton, Georgia native went undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft before traversing the world and finding his way to the Philippines.
Short as their partnership was, Dunlap remembers Brownlee as that kind of player who is a born leader and a born winner.
"The thing about pro-level, whether it's the Philippines, the NBA, or Australia, or Euroball, is that when the money is on the line, you need guys that can score. And Justin was one of those guys that you didn't have to diagram a play and all of a sudden, he would do something where you went, 'Oh my God.' And he was one of the guys," he said.
And his track record is enough proof of that.
Brownlee was responsible for ending Ginebra's eight-year drought, burying the championship-winning three-pointer in Game Six of the 2016 PBA Governors' Cup Finals against Meralco.
He has since helped the crowd darlings to three more championships, most recently in the 2019 PBA Governors' Cup.
The 6-foot-4 forward was also a vital piece in San Miguel Alab Pilipinas' run to the 2018 ABL title while aiding Al Riyadi's run to the 2019 Alfa Lebanese Basketball League throne.
More than Brownlee's unbreakable will on the basketball court, what Dunlap remembers the most of his former player was his good additude, which makes him beloved among his peers wherever he goes.
"He’s a good teammate and the guys in the locker room liked Justin," he said. "He never had a bite to him. He just knew how to go along to get along with people, so I like that about him."
And that goes a long way if Brownlee indeed wants to represent the Philippines in the international stage in the future.
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