11-man Gilas lineup looms for Asian Games as Brownlee still doubtful

MANILA, Philippines -- Gilas Pilipinas may have an 11-man roster for its Asian Games gold medal defense. 

With Justin Brownlee’s status for the Philippines still a massive question mark, Gilas head coach Tim Cone admitted that “there is a chance” that the Nationals will only have 11 players for the Asiad. 

“Well, we haven't had a confirmation yet from Justin whether he's going to be here or not. The door is still open for him. I mean, he's still working on clearances from doctors in the States. So as soon as that's all cleared up, we'll have a clearer picture as well,” Cone told reporters in a Zoom interview Thursday afternoon. 

He said that the 12th spot is still open for Brownlee, and they have no plans of filling it up so far. 

“You know, there are certain budget restraints in terms of traveling with a lot of different people and in terms of hotels and airline tickets and the like. So we've kept that 12th spot open for Justin if he can make it,” he said. 

“But at this point, no, we don't have a 12th player in mind to come over.” 

The Asian Games team is made up of Robert Bolick, Sedrick Barefield, Adrian Nocum, Jerrick Ahanmisi, RJ Abarrientos, Don Trollano, Justine Baltazar, Justin Arana, Zav Lucero, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Brandon Bates.

Cone, still, stressed that there are positives in having just 11 players. 

“You know, we wanted to, if we look back at the Olympic qualifying tournament, we lost Scottie [Thompson] soon before, right before the tournament. And we ended up going with 11. And we didn't miss a beat there. And I think we'll be fine. These guys are all willing to play extended minutes,” he said. 

“And I think 11 is a really good number from a coaching standpoint in terms of not feeling like you have to, you know, force some guys who should be out there longer to play less because you want other guys to play. To other guys to get satisfied,” he added.

“So I don't know if you know what I mean, but it's easier from a coaching standpoint, having oftentimes less players than it is, than having more.” 

Gilas won the 2023 Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou, giving the Philippines its first gold in the Asiad in 61 years. 

Brownlee was a huge part of that gold medal run, especially against China, when he willed Gilas to a come-from-behind win. 

But now, things are different. 

“It's a lot different coming in. Nobody had any expectations for us in 23. But now that we've won it, now the expectations are going to be stronger and bigger. We really want to make sure we get a medal and hopefully it's going to be a gold medal,” Cone said. 

“That's what we're shooting for. But we're going to be going with this one All-Filipino unless Justin makes a last second appearance. So I think the expectations for this one are going to be a little bit different for us,” he added. 

“But we're still going to expect the gold but we're just going to worry about what we do every day. And that's what we did in 23. Just worry about what's right in front of us.”