A HUGE part of Barangay Ginebra’s success in the PBA Governors’ Cup was Justin Brownlee, who carried the Gins from being the sixth seed all the way to the championship.
Head coach Tim Cone said Brownlee was groping for form in the early part of the conference, only for the resident Ginebra import to find his rhythm during the most important juncture of the Governors’ Cup.
Cone revealed that Brownlee was out of competitive basketball since playing in United Arab Emirates during the early part of the pandemic.
Brownlee gets in shape
“It’s just that Justin got in shape,” said Cone, when asked if there were any adjustments made during the conference. “Justin got his rhythm, got his shape right about the start of the quarterfinals or maybe the game before the quarterfinals. His game just started to elevate.
“As his game elevated, we all elevated, right through the quarterfinals, and of course, what he did here in the semis and the finals. That was also a huge key,” said Cone.
The Gins captured the Governors' Cup title by winning 12 of their last 16 games after losing four straight in the middle of the elimination round.
Cone said Brownlee got the chance to get back in the shape that he wanted during the January break following the rise of Omicron variant cases in the country.
“I know people were kinda wondering why Justin was just struggling early in the conference. But bottomline is, he hadn’t played in two years. He came in and he hadn’t really been in great shape yet and it took him awhile to start get going again.
"After that little break in the pandemic, it helped us. He was able to work on his body to get ready for the rest of the conference,” said Cone.
Brownlee also admitted coming off an injury during his stint in UAE.
“That was the last time I played. I actually got injured March of last year and it took six to seven months to fully recover. I was just basically getting back where I can comfortably play right before the conference,” said Brownlee.
“It was difficult just having that great passion, just want to compete and play basketball, it was difficult trying to stay in shape because I don’t know when I will play or if I will ever play again. I didn’t know because of the pandemic. It was just up and down. It was hard especially coming back.
“I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and some of the PT guys, Aaron and Paul, I think they did a great job. Even when we had that break last January, they did a great job of keeping the guys in shape and helping me get in even better shape,” said Brownlee.
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