JUSTIN BROWNLEE is back in Manila to join the national team training for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup Asian Qualifiers set to start later this month in Guam.
‘Justin [Brownlee] is now in town,’ Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone told BusinessMirror on Friday. ‘We’ll start practicing on November 18 [Tuesday] and we expect everyone to be there except for the Korean guys and AJ [Edu] who is getting married and will arrive late.’
Brownlee was almost doomed for the qualifiers after suffering from pneumonia but the 6-foot-7 naturalized player is back in shape for the away qualifiers on November 28 and December 1 against Guam.
‘He’s okay and ready to compete,’ said Cone of Brownlee, who reinforced Gilas in the FIBA Asia Cup last August in Saudi Arabia and averaged 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists in five games.
Cone, meanwhile, said 6-foot-8 Carl Tamayo of the Changwon LG Sakers and 6-foot-7 swingman Kevin Quiambao of the Goyang Sono Skygunners both in the Korean Basketball League will join the training camp at a later date.
Edu, a 6-foot-10 big man, is playing for Gunma Crane Thunders in the Japan B.League.
The Philippines, ranked No. 37 in the world, finished seventh among the 16 teams in the FIBA Asia Cup ruled by Australia last August in Jeddah.
The Philippines takes on Guam in Pool A action on November 28 at the Yigo Village in the US island territory which is now part of the Asia-Oceania zone.
Gilas then hosts Guam on December 1 t at the Ateneo Blue Eagles Gym in Quezon City.
‘Playing any team on the road is always a challenge, so we are expecting a great game from Guam. Every game in the World Cup Qualifiers is crucial,’ Cone said. ‘We must be very defensively great all the time.’
The Philippine Basketball Association, meanwhile, is sending the Philippine Cup to a lull from Monday to December 4 to give way to the qualifiers where several of its players are playing.
Expected at the Blue Eagles Gym for the training camp are June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, Dwight Ramos, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana and Mason Amos and, hopefully, Kai Sotto.
Group B is made up of Japan, China, South Korea and Chinese-Taipei; Group C is composed of Iran, Jordan, Syria and Iraq; and Group D has Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, host Qatar and India.
The top 12 teams will advance to the qualifiers’ second round where the top seven squads will join host Qatar in the FIBA 2027 World Cup in Doha set August 17 to Sepyember 12.
Five teams from Africa, seven teams from the Americas and 12 teams from Europe will make up the 32-team 2027 World Cup.
The Philippines-New Zealand match will be on February 26 and the Australia game on March 1-the venues have yet to be determined.