Door stays open for Justin

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas head coach Tim Cone said yesterday he isn’t optimistic that Justin Brownlee will be ready to play when the national team starts its Asian Games campaign against Bahrain on Sept. 11 but the door stays open for a comeback.

Brownlee has ruled himself out of the fourth FIBA World Cup Asia qualifying window against Jordan on Friday and Iran on Sunday due to health issues. There is no indication that he’ll be able to suit up for the Nagoya competition where Gilas is the defending champion.

“Justin has asked not to play because he has yet to recover his health from the last PBA Finals and third window,” said Cone. “After the third window, he was confident he would be fine by the fourth if he took a break from his PBA duties and even up to the start of Gilas practice. Justin thought he could make it. But since then, he just hasn’t felt right and doesn’t think he’s well enough to contribute. As for the Asian Games, we’ll leave it open but for now, we’re not optimistic that he’ll be well by then. It looks like we’ll be going All-Filipino in both tournaments since Bennie (Boatwright) has yet to receive his naturalization papers and Ange (Kouame) is in France under contract.”

Cone said without a Philippine passport, Boatwright won’t be eligible for the Asian Games. His naturalization has been approved by the House of Representatives and Senate. If the President does not sign or veto the bill, it lapses into law within 30 days of receiving it. “Hopefully, we’ll get his papers by the November (fifth) window,” he added. “If by some miracle Justin deems himself fit before we play this window or the Asian Games, we’ll insert him into the lineup. He’s the ultimate plug and play guy. We’ll just limit his minutes so the door is open.”

Regarding talk that Kai Sotto rejoined Gilas to negotiate a clearance from SBP to play in the US NCAA, Cone said he never heard of it. “We’re just happy to have him now for this important window,” he said. SBP executive director Erika Dy denied the speculation, “no, I’m not sure where this came from.” Sotto is now awaiting confirmation from US NCAA on his eligibility to play a season. His Japan B-League contract has expired and options include a renewal, playing in the NBA G-League, exploring Europe or Taiwan and looking into a 10-day, two-way or Exhibit 10 contract in the NBA.