The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel never wanted to be so reliant on Justin Brownlee. But that was the case yet again Friday.
Brownlee did the heavy lifting for the Gin Kings when they faced Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters in PBA Commissioner’s Cup action. He produced 31 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, six steals, and three blocks in over 45 minutes of play.
But what’s alarming is that he scored 21 of Ginebra’s 22 – yes, 22 – points in the final frame. The other point came from a Stanley Pringle freebie when Phoenix head coach Louie Alas incurred a technical foul that led to his ejection.
Brownlee had reason to complain about the lack of local support. Instead, he put the blame on himself.
“Man, I gotta do a better job moving the ball, getting people involved for sure.
“I had a lot of turnovers this game. I think we just gotta get that rhythm back on offense. Mainly me, I gotta do a better job getting guys involved,” lamented Brownlee, who had four turnovers in the game.
The Barangay lost, 111-103. And for Brownlee, he believes that the problem in the defeat was their defense. In the game, the defending champions allowed the Fuel Masters to drop a whopping 45 points in the third quarter alone.
“Man, it was just our defense. We gave up forty-something points in that third quarter. That’s very unlikely.
“It’s something that we definitely don’t want to do. If we wanna win moving forward starting on Sunday, we just gotta play our defense and that’s when we’re gonna win games,” said the reigning Commissioner’s Cup Best Import.
Ginebra will have a chance to get back on track this Sunday against Alaska Aces. Brownlee thinks that facing Phoenix has helped them prepare for it, but he’s still wary, since the Aces will parade new import in Diamon Simpson.
“The good thing is I think Phoenix kinda prepared us. They’re kinda similar to Alaska as far as pressuring the ball and the way they play. But man, I think it’s definitely gonna be tough especially with a new import,” he said.
“We just gotta get back to the drawing board and really focus on our defense.”
