CEBU CITY – Justin Brownlee will not be joining Meralco for its EASL game against the Macau Black Bears despite arriving in Manila early Friday morning.
Meralco team manager Paolo Trillo said Brownlee arrived to fullfill his commitments with Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers, and will not be heading here for Saturday’s match against the Black Bears.
Aside from the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, Brownlee is also part of Gilas' lineup for the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand from December 9 to 20.
READ Brownlee finally arrives to rejoin Gilas for World Cup qualifiers
“We learned that he arrived in Manila already. But because he also has commitments to play for the FIBA qualifiers. He will be joining the national team. He will be joining Gilas,” said Trillo in a press conference at the Citadines on the eve of the EASL game to be held at the refurbished Cebu Coliseum.
Designated as Meralco’s naturalized player for the EASL, Brownlee missed the first three games of the Bolts due to pneumonia. And with him already in the country, the Bolts are looking forward to have Brownlee around with the team.
“As far as how ready he is, we all learned also that he was dealing with pneumonia some weeks back. So it’s a health issue, I guess. We don’t know how healthy he will be even just in time for the qualifiers. We are not really sure. As he progresses, we will see if he is ready, if he is in game shape.”
“Definitely, he is not going to reach our game (against Macau Black Bears),” said Trillo.
The Bolts have one game before the year ends with a return match-up against the Macau Black Bears to be played on the road, and Trillo is hopeful that Brownlee will have a chance to play in the tournament.
But at the moment, Brownlee’s focus is on the national team which the Bolts also recognize.
“We have one more game left in December. We will see first how he will fare for the national team and take it from there,” said Trillo.
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