Justin Jackson epitomized hustle on Sunday night during his first-ever Manila Clasico experience. He dove hard for loose balls, chased down shots, and cleaned up his teammates’ missed shots through putback dunks.
Jackson did it infront of the legions of fans of the Magnolia Hotshots and the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. Some might chicken out with that huge of a crowd, but the 6-foot-9 American did not.
The four-year pro proved that he can play in a high-stakes situation. Jackson paced the Hotshots with 21 points on a 47 percent-shooting clip, on top of 15 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block in over 42 minutes.
Jackson was, indeed, ready.
And he has Ginebra’s hero Justin Brownlee to thank for it.
“I told him that it’s going to be an intense crowd,” said the 30-year-old Brownlee. “They gonna be shouting at him and things like that. He was prepared.
“He heard a lot of things from the crowd and he was ready.”
Brownlee and Jackson go way back. They’ve faced each other back in college — Brownlee played for St. John’s, Jackson in Cincinnati — but they have teamed up for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2014 NBA Summer League.
“In college and summer league we played together,” recalled Brownlee, who started his pro career three years earlier than Jackson. “In college, he played for Cincinatti so there was a little bit of rivalry. We played against each other.”
The two imports are actually friends off the court. And when they learned that both of them are at the Philippines for another basketball work, Brownlee and Jackson met and hung out, just like what brothers usually do.
And that set up the Manila Clasico briefing.
“We’re actually pretty cool. I’ve known him for a while. We went over to my place a couple of times, played video games. He’s a cool guy. When you go up against a friend, it feels pretty good,” Brownlee reflected.
“On the court, he played hard and I did too.”
True enough, Brownlee played hard. The two-time Governor’s Cup champion was at his element on Sunday night, erupting for 35 big points — going 11-of-12 from the charity stripe — along with eight boards, four dimes, a steal and a block.
And Brownlee got one over his good friend, as the Barangay zoomed past the struggling Hotshots, 104-84, to collect their second straight win — their first win streak this conference — and move just half a game from a playoff spot.
“This is my fourth time playing in a Manila Clasico,” said Brownlee, who’s currently averaging 24.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 7.5 assists with 1.75 blocks and 1.0 steals.
“It’s always a great crowd and gives us a lot of energy.”
