Justin Brownlee has just come off a championship run abroad in one of Asia’s best leagues.
Just recently, the 6-foot-4 forward helped Al-Riyadi seize the Alfa Lebanese Basketball League championship at the expense of the Beirut Club. The storied ball club also collected its 14th league title overall in the process.
“That was a great league out there in Lebanon, very tough, very physical. Just all the experiences I got from that league and fortunately, I got a championship in that league,” he said.
“Just that experience alone will help me in this conference.”
That conference Brownlee referred to was the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, where he will serve again as import for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Shortly after that Al-Riyadi stint, he flew to the Philippines and worked anew with the Gin Kings.
The experience he gained in Lebanon had seemingly shown right away at the start of their title defense bid, Wednesday night. Brownlee made 44 points on a 60-percent clip, on top of 10 rebounds, seven assists, and a block.
Too bad all that went down the drain.
With his former San Miguel Alab Pilipinas teammate Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. taking over in the extra period en route to a PBA career-best 28 points, the Gin Kings bowed to the gutsy Blackwater Elite by just a hair, 107-108.
“Just got to give Blackwater a lot of credit. Give a lot of credit to Alex Stepheson, Bobby Ray Parks, Mac Belo. Just giving them props, they played us great tonight, really came out moving the ball well and they made big shots.”
But even with a rough start into the tilt, Brownlee isn’t pushing the panic button just yet.
“I think we can take some positives from tonight’s game. Just try to get back to our form and re-establish ourselves. I think that’s the big thing for us, we just got to take the positive from tonight’s game,” said the reigning Best Import.
“We just got to keep playing and get better; and know that last year’s success would have nothing to do with this year.”
