Whenever Justin Brownlee comes up with a great performance for the Barangay, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone would go on and marvel about it during post-game interviews.
Brownlee exploded for a PBA career-high 50 points to power the Gin Kings past Columbian Dyip in an overtime thriller, 127-123. But this time around, Cone admitted he did not notice it.
“I had no idea.
“Didn’t seem like he scored that much. It was a high-scoring game so there were a lot of points out there to be scored,” said the multi-decorated bench strategist after the game.
For Cone, a factor behind such is also Brownlee’s demeanor. The reigning Commissioner’s Cup Best Import isn’t really an emotional guy, and he simply does his thing on the court.
“It’s really interesting because you don’t know how many points Justin is piling up. He does it in such a quiet way, without fanfare, he’s not pounding his chest or doing anything,” Cone said.
“He’s just taking care of business, then you look at the stats after the game and you’ll go, ‘Woah, he really did that?’ That was one of those games today. I had no idea he had that many points.
“But it wasn’t like he was forcing things. It was all coming natural,” furthered the two-time Grand Slam coach.
Brownlee, on the other hand, said that he only played aggressively — the very same approach he had seven nights ago when he dropped 49 to lead his Ginebra past rivals Magnolia Hotshots, 110-107.
“Just trying to stay aggressive. I guess I’m still in a good rhythm from last game, so I’m just trying to keep it going,” said Brownlee, who also had 14 boards, five dimes, four steals and as many blocks.
Sunday’s game doesn’t have any playoff implications whatsoever since Ginebra is assured of being the fourth seed in the quarterfinals. But for Brownlee, they wanted to treat it like a playoff game.
“We just wanted to come out here and treat it as if it was a playoff game. Just try to keep our rhythm,” he said.
The Gin Kings would definitely need to keep their rhythm as it will be a tough quarterfinal ahead — they could face either the Hotshots or the Chris McCullough-led San Miguel Beermen.
Brownlee could not believe it upon hearing such a possibility. So given that, the three-time PBA champion said that they have to bring their “A-plus performance” come the next round.
“It’s not good news. You know, the quarterfinals, usually it may be a slightly lighter opponent, but at this point, it really doesn’t matter who we play. You know, it’s the playoffs,” said Brownlee.
“We gonna have to come out, and if we wanna win, just come out and perform at the top of our game. You know, have to bring our A-plus performance each and every game.”
