MANILA, Philippines: With Gilas Pilipinas slated to begin its preparation for the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers 2025 this Thursday at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, new national mentor Tim Cone is upbeat considering that a "healthy" naturalized player Justin Brownlee will be spearheading the squad in the international tournament late this February.
Cone said Brownlee's failure to suit up and reinforce Barangay Ginebra in the team's recent PBA Season 48 Commissioner's Cup campaign may have turned out to be a "blessing in disguise" after all.
"It was a great sacrifice for Ginebra not to use him this conference, (though) we really wanted to use him this conference (as import) but we couldn't," Cone said during his guest appearance at former PBA commissioner Noli Eala's Power and Play sports program over the weekend.
"But there's always a door closing and windows that opened. The window for us that opened up, he's coming off surgery off his foot."
The American mentor said people may not realize how badly injured Brownlee was during the Gilas squad's road to the gold medal conquest in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last year.
The 66-year-old Cone said Brownlee's sleep pattern was disrupted during the Hangzhou Asian Games to have foot rehab and get him prepared physically for the grind.
"I don't think people realized how injured he was during the Asian Games and how much he had to battle through pain, to get that gold medal and do the thing that he did," recalled Cone. "In China, he was basically rehabbing 20 or 18 hours, doing rehab, waking up at 2am, and later, waking up again 4:30am, but he battled through it."
"As much as he could have played for us (in Ginebra), it may be a blessing in disguise because now, he got to rest and recuperate. That's in a way a bonus for us," he added.
The newly-appointed Gilas mentor said Brownlee has since been working out daily and is "pain-free."
"He worked out everyday in the US. They say he's pain-free which is good news. He didn't just sit at home and feel bad about it," share Cone.
Brownlee averaged 22.1 points? 7.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals, while shooting 43.1 percent from three-point zone in leading Gilas to the Asian Games men's basketball gold medal.
The former St. John's standout flunked the anti-doping test in the quadrennial games in a shocking turn of events last October.
The 35-year-old Brownlee was forced to take a leave of absence following the unfortunate incident, though over a week ago, he was given the green light to play by FIBA as his three months of ineligibility had been served retroactively.
Gilas is slated to face off with Hong Kong on February 22 at the Tsuen Wan Stadium, before tangling with Chinese Taipei on February 25 at the Philsports Arena.
Brownlee will be heading the latest Gilas squad, along with Barangay Ginebra teammates Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo, Meralco wingman Chris Newsome, TNT's Calvin Oftana, San Miguel Beer stars June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez, along with Japan B.League Asian imports Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, AJ Edu and Kai Sotto, along with UAAP star Kevin Quiambao.
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