Ever since his early years, Tim Cone has been known for his fierce loyalty to certain players, including imports. It’s why he kept bringing back Sean Chambers when he was with the Alaska franchise before, and even Marqus Blakely when he was under the Purefoods/San Mig Coffee banner. It’s also why he’s retained the services of Justin Brownlee ever since the Magic Man led Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to the PBA Governors’ Cup title in 2016.
Now, Cone will again be leaning on Justin Brownlee in the upcoming PBA Commissioner’s Cup, where teams are allowed to recruit imports of unlimited heights. And so far, pretty much every team has brought in a giant of sorts, from the 6-foot-11 Daniel Ochefu (Blackwater Bossing), to 7-foot Mubashar Ali (Terrafirma Dyip), to 6-foot-9 Jaylen Johnson (Rain or Shine Elasto Painters).
Long story short, JB will once again be the shortest import in the PBA’s midseason tourney, and it probably wouldn’t have been an issue if this were five or six years ago, when Justin Brownlee was still in his athletic prime. But Kabayan is turning 38 in April, and it looks like he has lost a step.
Tim Cone’s Trust in Justin Brownlee Is Unwavering
Cone, though, is unperturbed and looks hardly worried about the size disparity and Brownlee’s advancing age. In fact, in former PBA commissioner Noli Eala’s Power & Play on Saturday, the league’s winningest coach all but dared the other teams to give him and Ginebra reason to replace the six-time champ.
“The other teams and the other imports will tell us whether Justin’s still good enough to be here and whether we need a change or whatever. We’re not gonna make a change arbitrarily, there’s no reason for us,” Cone told Eala. “They have to prove to us that we need to change him, and Justin always takes that challenge.”
The concurrent Gilas coach doubled down and reiterated he isn’t scared about using the smaller JB against towering opposition—in part because Ginebra will finally welcome back Isaac Go into the fold.
“I’m not fearful,” Cone added. “We got Isaac Go coming back, we have an extra big along with our other two bigs. We’ll have a three-headed monster to contain these other big imports, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Go, who is coming off ACL reconstruction, will join Japeth Aguilar and Troy Rosario in Ginebra’s big man rotation. Justin Brownlee, meanwhile, will likely be asked to do everything again as the barangay looks to break what is now a nearly three-year title drought.
