By MARK REY MONTEJO
Gilas Pilipinas forward Justin Brownlee has learned countless of valuable lessons while wearing the Gilas Pilipinas jersey, but if there is one that impressed him the most was the effectiveness of the “ball movement.”
To achieve that, the National, he said, must first find the right chemistry to become one big fighting unit after being tasked with a seeming impossible mission in the coming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
But team is racing against time to achieve the cohesion needed to overcome the great odds.
Brownlee, who had a stellar performance in his maiden stint for the Nationals against Lebanon in the 2023 World Cup Asian Qualifiers last February, said most of the international teams know full well the significance of having a ball rotation.
“Playing with Gilas overall [games], all of that combined I learned it’s more on ball movement in international games, the more you move the ball [it’ll] result in better opportunities,” said Brownlee,
“Just like any other team the chemistry is there, just make sure everybody is on the same page, it has to happen quick. Just like I said, short time period that we have to prepare for this games [Asian Games], we don’t have like a full season or full conference, so we must gotta make sure the chemistry is getting better and better each day,” Brownlee said.
Gilas opens their title bid against Bahrain on Sept. 26.
“It is pressure, but it’s good pressure. It’s a pressure that athletes [and] basketball players at this level [and] pro level should accustomed to it, should able to accept it and deal with it. So, at this point there’s pressure but I don’t think we should bother with that much,”
