Gilas Pilipinas’ Justin Brownlee puts on another sensational game to help the secure the Fiba OQT semifinals ticket. –FIBA PHOTO
As far as Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is concerned, scouts in the 2011 NBA Draft were practically sleeping on the job.
“I’ve said this before: Somebody in the NBA missed out on this guy,” Cone said Thursday night in Riga in Latvia, where the Nationals booked a seat in the final four of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) after Justin Brownlee led the team to a 96-94 loss to Georgia.
“They (scouts) weren’t on the ball, they should have seen this guy,” Cone went on after Brownlee scored 28 points that went with eight rebounds and eight assists. “He never should have been in the Philippines. He should be in the NBA.”
Cone couldn’t help but heap praises again on his naturalized ace, a proven winner with Barangay Ginebra in the PBA and the Gilas team which Brownlee led to a first Asian Games gold medal in 61 years last October.
“He is a big moment guy. He plays huge in big moments,” Cone went on. “And he has proven it over and over again. What he’s doing in this tournament is no surprise to what we’ve seen throughout his career in the Philippines [that started in 2016].
“He’s dominant there and he’s always engaged. When he’s aggressive, there’s just nobody better than him,” Cone added.
Great Draft class
The 2011 Draft class was no pushover as Cleveland selected Duke star Kyrie Irving first overall, with fellow future superstars and NBA champions Klay Thompson (Golden State) and Kawhi Leonard (Indiana) going as the 11th and 15th overall picks, respectively.
Jimmy Butler, another superstar with the Miami Heat, actually went as the 30th and last first round pick by the Chicago Bulls.
With six PBA titles and that Asiad gold, Gilas teammate Kai Sotto has labeled Brownlee as “the Michael Jordan of the Philippines,” with Dwight Ramos saying that the 6-foot-4 shooting guard is the “best teammate” he has ever had.
“Man, I really appreciate the compliments from both guys, but I really don’t know how to feel about that,” Brownlee said. “I just try to [get the] W (win), and I always [try to be] a really good teammate, try to jell with the guys.
“Being compared to Michael Jordan, I don’t even know what to say about that. But I definitely appreciate the compliment.”
With two more wins needed for the Philippines to make the main draw in the Paris Olympics in a few weeks, there’s more for Brownlee to do.
He can add to his legacy by taking the country back to the Games for the first time since 1972.
And in doing that, who knows?
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It’s never too late for anything, and the NBA scouts might take one final look this time and do their jobs right.