MANILA, Philippines — As Barangay Ginebra heads to the PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup postseason, Tim Cone believes that Justin Brownlee continues to be the key for the Gin Kings, who are looking for their eighth league championship since 2016. The American explained that the 36-year-old Brownlee's effectiveness is gauged not merely by his scoring, but through his contributions in the other departments like rebounding, assists and even steals. "I think it's just something that evolves in our offense. Our offense is really a equal opportunity and Justin is a master at picking his spots," Cone said during his recent guest appearance at former PBA commissioner Noli Eala's Power and Play sports program. "His intention in every game is to involve his teammates. Because the more his teammates are involved, the harder it is to defend him, that's the philosophy that we have," he stressed. Considered by many as the "GOAT" (greatest of all time) of PBA imports, the Ginebra resident reinforcement showed he can still score at will when given the opportunity. In Ginebra's 108-102 win over San Miguel Beer in the first round of the eliminations, Brownlee dropped a new PBA career-best 51 points, to go along with 13 rebounds, six steals and five assists, while shooting an efficient 18-of-29 from the floor. But in as much as Cone appreciates the three-time PBA Best import explode offensively, the PBA's all-time winningest coach believes that Brownlee's best games happen when he contributes also in rebounds, assists and steals. "The more his teammates are involved, the harder it is to defend him, that's the philosophy that we have," Cone shared. "There are nights his teammates are shooting well, or playing well, the ball moving well. Justin's not gonna look for his shots," he added. Despite the mileage on his legs, Brownlee continues to stay at the top of his game as evidenced by his per-game averages of 25.7 points, 9.5r rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.6 assists and 1.2 blocks this conference. "It's not as simple as, 'Oh tonight, I'm not gonna shoot the basketball or I'm going to shoot the basketball.' There's a lot more involved, on how they (other teams) defend, on how his teammates are playing or others defend him," explained the 66-year-old Cone, whose team starts its best-of-five quarterfinal series versus Meralco on Thursday. "We always feel his best game is when he's scoring in his 20s, but has 8 or 10 assists, 10 or 12 rebounds. We're not at our best when he scores 40 or 50pts because we lean on him too much." The Gin Kings are a team in transition this season with new offseason recruits Stephen Holt and rookie RJ Abarrientos in the mix as they try to work with veteran stars Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar, along with Maverick Ahanmisi. Big man Isaac Go is out for months after hurting his knee recently, thus, seeing Joe Devance come out of retirement, with the 12-time PBA champion expected to bring in his experience.
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