Tim Cone praises Justin Brownlee's FIBA OQT performance: 'He should be in the NBA'

For Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone, Justin Brownlee should be playing in the NBA.

Cone said this on the heels of the national team's move to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament semifinals. The nationals fell just short against Georgia, 96-94, but it was enough for the Philippines to advance to the next round of the qualifiers.

"He’s a big moment guy. He plays huge in big moments and he’s proven that over and over again. What he’s doing here in this tournament is no surprise whatsoever to what we’ve seen throughout his career in the Philippines. He’s dominant there, he executes to a tee and he’s always engaged and when he’s aggressive, there’s nobody better than him," Cone said about Brownlee.

In the last two games of the FIBA OQT, Brownlee has posted averages of 27.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.0 steal per game, leading the Philippines' bid for a ticket to the Paris Olympics.

FIBA performance aside, Cone has worked with Brownlee since 2016 and the latter's stint with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel has produced six PBA titles.

Aside from Barangay Ginebra, Brownlee was also part of the Gilas squad which won the Southeast Asian Games gold and Asian Games gold medal in 2023.

"Somebody in the NBA missed out on this guy. Somebody in the NBA missed out. They weren’t on the ball. They should have seen this guy. He never should have been in the Philippines. He should be in the NBA."

Brownlee almost played in the NBA, but his contract was waived by the New York Knicks in 2013.

Now, Brownlee is also playing in Indonesia when the PBA is not holding a reinforced conference.

"The thing that really makes Justin special is number one, he’s absolutely the best teammate I’ve ever seen throughout my coaching. He’s just a tremendous teammate. And number two, he has that rare skill that makes… Every time he plays, and the team he plays, he makes the players around him better," Cone said.

Brownlee, who also got good words from his Gilas Pilipinas teammates such as Kai Sotto, credited his teammates for his performance.

"I definitely appreciate the compliments coming from both guys, [Dwight Ramos] and Kai… being compared to Michael Jordan of the Philippines, I don’t even know what to say about that but I definitely appreciate the compliment," Brownlee said.

"I wouldn’t be nothing without the teammates. A famous quote that Coach Tim always tell Ginebra guys and you know in the Gilas team is one is too small a number to achieve greatness so I just try to go by that and try to get the best out of the team and try to put the best foot [forward for] the team."

Brownlee and the rest of Gilas will play Brazil in the FIBA OQT semis on Saturday.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News