Cone: Gilas has one spot open for Justin Brownlee in Asian Games

Gilas Pilipinas forward Justin Brownlee.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Coach Tim Cone remains hopeful that Justin Brownlee can come back and join Gilas Pilipinas’ quest to retain the gold in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Cone said the team has left out a spot for Brownlee in the event he decides to finally come back for national team duties after skipping the fourth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

If Brownlee answers the call, he will suit up alongside a squad different from the one that beat Jordan and Iran in the recent qualification phase both held at Mall of Asia Arena.

READ: Justin Brownlee ‘not healthy enough,’ out for Gilas homestand

“We’ve opened up a spot for Justin. We’ll see if he ends up showing up,” Cone said.

Cone and his staff have elected to field the rest of the squad with an all-PBA, with Gilas mainstays from the B.League and Korean Basketball League ruled out for the quadrennial showcase.

Among the notable players expected to make the cut for the Games are NLEX’s Robert Bolick and Rain or Shine’s Adrian Nocum.

Bennie Boatwright is still not eligible to play for Gilas as his naturalization process has yet to be finalized despite getting the nod of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Had his naturalization been completed, Boatwright could have been eligible to play alongside Brownlee for the Asiad given that the event has a passport-only rule instead of the Fiba guidelines.

“Anybody that goes on to that [Asian Games team] has to be from that 32 players [in the pool]. So none of the Japan guys are going. None of the Korean guys are coming,” Cone said.

“It’s strictly going to be a PBA team, along with, hopefully, Justin,” he added.