Is Gilas ready without Brownlee?
BASKETBALL SLEUTH
IT was a realistic outcome considering Kai Sotto was absent. He was our tallest, possibly our best player, and these are arguably the two strongest teams in Asia-Oceania.
We have already defeated New Zealand before, and the close game was expected. Gilas fell short, and it boiled down to one possession and free throws — something that our team can definitely work on.
The past two games begs the first big question: Can this Gilas Pilipinas version move on from Justin Brownlee?
Kabayan’s twilight
Justin Brownlee is now 38 years old. We marvel at LeBron James playing at 41 years old, and JB is not that far off.
Just for comparison, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Andre Iguodala, among others, retired at that age. It’s not too early, and perhaps, even too late. It depends on how much mileage a player has taken along with his physical conditioning.
Brownlee is comparable to LeBron in the sense that there is no question about his discipline and conditioning. He has not gained notoriety by partying or having vices, and for that we must give him all the credit. Justin Brownlee has been our best naturalized player by far.
But even for the unique physical specimen that is LeBron, there was a reality he needed to face: He can no longer carry a team, or even be the lone alpha dog, when he was past 38 years old. He has gracefully admitted that, and now he may even take a massive pay cut.
The dilemma for Gilas naturalized players is that they have to be the alpha dog. They have to lead and even carry the team. We can have only one naturalized player — the role cannot change. If even the best cannot play the role anymore, is it time to change the actor?
Who’s next?
Both of our candidates have something that Brownlee does not: height. We refer to Ange Kouame (who is still considered as naturalized until further notice) and Bennie Boatwright.
Side note: Jordan Clarkson is still an option, but it seems he is reserved for world-level competition.
However, they may not deliver many things that Brownlee has, at least at this time. They don’t have the leadership, versatility and shot creation that Kabayan has displayed. Gilas has relied on for so many battles. Now, that has to come from somewhere else.
Boatwright is closer to what Brownlee gives, since Kouame is more of a defensive presence. In a perfect world, Kouame is already a local and starting with our naturalized player, but we have to wait for that soon.
If it’s Boatwright, we should have less plays that involve dumping the ball to our NP, and wait for him to create. Bennie can make isolation plays, but in top level international ball, he cannot dominate.
We need better ball creators and scorers. We saw some promise with the younger players stepping out, but we need more offense. In the game against Australia, we saw our offense without Brownlee, and it was a nightmare.
The Boomers seemed to play down to our level with a dismal offensive game. It would have been a good chance, but we hardly had anything to capitalize. The way it is, we still cannot move on from Brownlee unless the naturalized player assumes the role fully.
Recommended upgrades
The team defense has been solid. They can limit opponents, they can get physical, and even keep up the intensity for most of the game.
However, there are repeated plays when the team looks lost. Without Brownlee, they seem like sheep without a shepherd. It will take time for Bennie to take over that role, so we should have local players ready to play that role even in spurts.
We also don’t have the “best point guard in Asia” privilege at this time. There is no Jimmy Alapag or Jayson Castro, so this is where we must look. Dwight Ramos and Juan Gomez de Liano are steps in the right direction, but perhaps players like Robert Bolick, who are used to carrying a team and taking over in clutch situations could be considered.
More on Gilas in the coming weeks.