BOCAUE -- In just one game, Justin Brownlee showed exactly why he’s been long sought by Gilas Pilipinas to become a naturalized player.
But more than the skills that he could bring to the table, national team head coach Chot Reyes was more impressed by how the resident Ginebra import made his impact on the court.
“With all of Justin's skills, he shoots the ball well, he defends, he penetrates, he's got a lot of basket, technical skills but the one skill for me that I appreciate is he's a great teammate. A great teammate, they make their teammates better, the players around them better. For me, that's his greatest skill,” Reyes said of Brownlee.
It was Brownlee who sparked a convincing 107-96 victory over Lebanon, dropping 15 of his 17 points in the first half before opting to refer more to his teammates in the second half especially with guys like Mason Amos, Jamie Malonzo, Jordan Heading and Dwight Ramos all coming alive in the blistering third quarter run for Gilas.
Even Lebanon head coach Jad El Hajj pointed at how unselfish the Gilas team they faced at the Philippine Arena as compared to the Jordan Clarkson-led nationals the Cedar defeated in Beirut last window.
The Filipinos finished the game with 31 assists as compared to the 19 in their last game against the Cedar and certainly had their best shooting from the three-point territory in the entire qualifiers with 17 makes.
“Honestly, they played today as a team. The last time, they played more as individuals. Today, they shared the ball. They played more as a team. They deserve it,” said El Hajj while also noting how Brownlee’s addition benefitted Gilas team play after seeing the Filipinos dissect the Lebanese defense with great passing and shooting.
“We know him. He played before in Lebanon in the league, three, four years ago. He is a great player. He likes to play with the team. He is not the type of player that just plays one-on-one. He did an amazing job. They helped him a lot especially that he has size,” he said of Brownlee.
For Reyes, he felt that Brownlee’s naturalization was a resolution to heal the past heartbreaks and failures of Gilas.
“I always believe that everything happens for a reason and I think all of the challenges that we went through very early when I was appointed as a coach, to comeback as a coach of a national team, failures and frustrations that we had in the past, I think the reason for that was for the entire country to get together,” said Reyes
“We're very, very thankful to the Senate and Congress, the PBA, all the stakeholders for getting together and finally getting Justin's papers done. And maybe that was the reason for all of the heartaches that we had to endure in the past. Because finally, everyone came together,” he added.