Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s PBA Governors’ Cup campaign looks headed for an early end. That’s because there’s a good chance resident import Justin Brownlee isn’t coming back to save the barangay.
“Not sure about Justin,” Cone told veteran scribe Quinito Henson in an interview. “He may be mulling retirement. Our import status is still a question mark.”
That figures. Brownlee is already 38, with plenty of mileage. He is also coming off a myriad of leg injuries severe enough to keep him out of Window 4 of the FIBA Asia World Cup Qualifiers in August and Asian Games 5×5 action early this month. He also authored what arguably was the perfect ending to his PBA career, leading Ginebra to a championship over rivals TNT Tropang 5G in an epic seven‑game series full of Magic Brownlee moments.
Could Riley Grigsby Return?
If Brownlee is, indeed, set for retirement, Ginebra could bring back Riley Grigsby, who proved capable of being a prolific scorer after averaging 34.0 points per game in six outings. He also put up 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists and was, by and large, a decent reinforcement. There was just one problem: those numbers didn’t translate to wins.
At the moment, Ginebra is at 2‑4 and currently languishes at the cellar of Group B. The reigning Commissioner’s Cup champions are also coming off back‑to‑back losses—a 97‑88 defeat to the Meralco Bolts and an 88‑73 thrashing at the hands of the Magnolia Hotshots. Worse, up next for the barangay are the top two teams of Group B, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and Magnolia.
And there could be no Justin Brownlee to save the day.
Ginebra Still Has a Fighting Chance
If it’s any consolation, Ginebra isn’t out of the running just yet for a quarterfinals berth, as it is still just a game away from fourth‑placer Blackwater Bossing and has one fewer loss than fifth‑place Meralco. All it would take is a three‑ or maybe four‑game winning streak, and the barangay will be back in playoff contention.
However, Ginebra will have to start winning right off the bat after the long break if it wants to make it to the crossover quarters.
