Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone is tempering expectations surrounding Bennie Boatwright and his pending naturalization process.
But the champion mentor has no doubt whatsoever how much of an asset the former San Miguel import can be to the program, especially after seeing similarities to a young Justin Brownlee — albeit a few inches taller.
“He’s very versatile. He kind of reminds me of a young Justin, just like three or four inches taller,” he offered after Ginebra’s 87-77 win over Magnolia in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup at the SMART Araneta Coliseum Sunday.
Boatwright has reportedly agreed in principle to undergo naturalization as part of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ (SBP) plans to expand the men’s team’s pool of naturalized players that currently have Brownlee and Ange Kouame.
“I have not been a part of the conversation in terms of speaking to him and his agents and stuff. I’m hearing everything via a third party,” he said.
“But as far as I know we have an agreement that he’s already submitting papers to naturalize.”
Cone disclosed asking for the USC Trojan to be included in the federation’s plans after an impressive stint with the Beermen in the Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup, where he helped lead the franchise to the title.
Though it’s not just the maiden PBA stint that caught his attention, but also the shades of ‘JB’ in the 27-year-old, 6-foot-8 big man he saw.
“Well, I was the one who asked for him. I think he’s a tremendous talent. He’s got great size and he can play in and out. He’s very versatile,” he said.
But then again, Cone does not want to look too far ahead, reminding him that the whole naturalization process could get tedious.
“This could be a process. It’s usually a long process — three, four, maybe eight months, we don’t know because it took Justin a long time to get his,” he said.
And as it stands, Brownlee remains the guy for Gilas, Cone said. “You know, without a doubt, and this is written in stone right now, Justin is our guy. And Bennie is going to be his back-up,” he said.
“Just like Justin was the backup to Jordan Clarkson in the World Cup. So we’re gonna go with that at the moment. But again he’s not even here yet. He’s not even naturalized yet,” the 66-year-old bench tactician added.
“I think he’s in China at the moment. I haven’t talked to him personally about it but Coach Richard [del Rosario] has and he’s also talked to their agents.”
