BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone hopes Justin Brownlee will be able to recover in time for Game Six after effects of food poisoning forced him to leave the game on Wednesday in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
Cone said Brownlee's food poisoning was so severe that he had to be taken to the hospital shortly after retreating to the locker room late in the third quarter of Ginebra’’s 104-95 defeat against TNT.
“He had severe food poisoning and he tried to go through the first half. Did a pretty good job. But by halftime, he was out,” said Cone.
READ: TNT pounces on Brownlee absence to win Game 5
“You could see it when he started in the second half. He just didn’t have anything. He was throwing up at halftime. He was throwing up on the bench when we took him out,” Cone added.
“Now, we’ve taken him to the hospital, something we probably should have done before the game even started."
A source said the Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player was in fine health on Tuesday during practice but got sick on the day of the game. He was already throwing up had to take IV fluids before Game Five.
Brownlee actually had a solid showing in Game Five as he had 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 6-of-11 from the field before being taken out late in the third quarter with the game still close.
Cone said Brownlee’s absence was definitely felt.
“It’s tough when your best player couldn’t play in the second half,” said Cone. "He wanted to come and try. So he tried. It wasn’t enough.”
“Bottomline, we made some turnovers. We couldn’t rebound without Justin there. That’s the story of the game,” said Cone.
Cone hopes that Brownlee will be able to recover soon enough now that he is confined in a hospital.
“Hopefully, Justin’s going to be better after being in the hospital. We will see. It’s pretty severe. It’s really severe food poisoning. Hopefully, after 48 hours, he can come back and get ready to play,” 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.
