PH 5 needs a savior? Welcome to the Brownlee Show
A triple to forge overtime and everything else needed to help Gilas Pilipinas live another day. That was the Justin Brownlee Show that was on loop in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
It was a special performance, for sure, but as far as national coach Tim Cone is concerned, there was nothing unusual about it.
Brownlee has proven he is at his best when his team needs an amazing moment.
“It doesn’t always work in your favor,” he said after the game. “Obviously, you can’t make every shot or make the best out of every moment, but you just gotta have courage and take those opportunities.”
The Philippines’ naturalized ace showed his courage in another heart-stopping performance to push Filipinos past Saudi Arabia, 95-88, in overtime on Tuesday morning that meant a quarterfinal ticket to the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup.
“I just think when you see the opportunity as a player, you just have to go after it,” Brownlee said.
Center AJ Edu, who witnessed Brownlee’s latest endgame magic, practically had his jaws on the floor when the credits rolled after another barn-burner.
“I really have no words, man, that was unbelievable,” said a wowed Edu on Tuesday morning, local time. “JB did what JB does. That was fun to witness. I’ve never been a part of that [before] so to see it was awesome.”
Brownlee, in usual Brownlee fashion, put on a Houdini show that allowed the Philippines to escape.
Down by three with the clock ticking away, Brownlee drained a heavily contested three-point shot to send the game to an extra period where the Filipinos had all the momentum they needed to scoot away in extra time.
Edu, who finished with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds, may have been stunned after the miraculous shot, but not the regular followers of the Justin Brownlee Show.
For Cone, who is also Brownlee’s coach at Barangay Ginebra in the PBA, it was just another day in the office for Brownlee.
“This is nothing foreign to Justin,” said the proud tactician. “If you know his history, that’s not unusual. He’s been hitting big shots. I’m his coach in his club team and when we played in the Asian Games, he was hitting big shots all the time.”
The Philippines snapped a 61-year gold medal drought in the Asian Games in 2023 because mainly of Brownlee, who hit two critical triples late to propel the Filipinos to a big semifinal win over the Chinese in China before playing the lead once more in the title match against Jordan.
On Thursday morning in Manila, Brownlee’s 29 points, five assists and four rebounds made sure that the Filipinos wouldn’t be packing their bags just yet.
Up next for the 37-year-old Brownlee and the Nationals is a grudge rematch with Australia, the heavy favorite in Jeddah.
And that’s one installment in the show worth watching.
