(UPDATE) AREJUVENATED Justin Brownlee finally joined Gilas Pilipinas' training camp on Saturday as the Filipinos continue their preparations for the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.
Coming off a grueling PBA Governors' Cup Finals series where Barangay Ginebra eventually fell short versus champion TNT, the 6-foot-4 Brownlee has returned to court as he tries to lead Gilas this time against New Zealand and Hong Kong this coming week.
Del Rosario said Gilas has been holding two-a-day court practices while reacquainting with coach Tim Cone's plays since Friday.
"(The players had) two-a-day court practices and weights in between. Everything is going well so far," del Rosario told The Manila Times.
Cone expects Brownlee to be "highly motivated" after getting the much-needed respite, as he told reporters last Wednesday.
The 36-year-old Brownlee hardly showed signs of slowing down as evidenced by his per-game averages of 23 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia last July.
He was instrumental in leading Gilas to a stunning 89-80 win over host Latvia in the group stage play, which eventually was enough to vault the Philippines to a semifinal spot.
Gilas though lost to eventual champion Brazil, thus blowing its chance to grab a spot in the Olympics.
Brownlee's stellar play earned him a spot in the FIBA OQT All-Star five.
Meanwhile, Cone expects Barangay Ginebra assistant playing coach LA Tenorio to lend his vast basketball experience and knowledge of the game with Gilas Pilipinas once he returns from his scheduled checkup in Singapore.
The American mentor said the 40-year-old Tenorio is currently in Singapore as part of his semi-annual checkup.
"He has some health related things he has to do during the window. He's gonna be missing a couple of days 'cause he has to go back to Singapore for a coupe of checkups," said Cone, during last Wednesday's press conference.
Cone doesn't expect Tenorio to make it to the Gilas' training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, where the national squad is currently in day 3 of its preparations for the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.
A little over a year ago, Tenorio successfully overcame stage 3 colon cancer and was able to make a successful PBA comeback during the tail end of 2023.
Cone has coached Tenorio since their time with Alaska over a decade ago, with their partnership producing eight PBA championships.
Tenorio is actually no stranger anymore to the national team, having been part of a Gilas squad that won the 2012 William Jones Cup, silver medal in the 2013 FIBA Asia men's championship in Manila, a bronze in the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China as well as a gold medal in the 2019 Southeast Asia Games, which the country hosted.
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