Romwel Anzures

Gilas Pilipinas star Justin Brownlee in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Photo from FIBA Basketball.

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<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1753714791058IMG_7800.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Gilas Pilipinas star Justin Brownlee in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Photo from FIBA Basketball."/>Gilas Pilipinas star Justin Brownlee in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Photo from FIBA Basketball.MANILA — Justin Brownlee is confident that Gilas Pilipinas can bank on its upward trend as they battle against the continent’s best in the upcoming 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.</div>Brownlee finally made his return to Philippine hardwood after four months, and he was back like he never left, putting up 32 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, a block, and a steal in Gilas’ 103-98 win vs. the Macau Black Bears on Monday.“It feels like I’m at home,” said the resident Barangay Ginebra import before exiting the Araneta Coliseum. “It feels good to be back in front of the fans, and it’s always special to see them.’This put the Nationals in a good spot as they leave for Jeddah later this week for the Asia Cup proper, and it also gave Brownlee a good taste of competitive hoops following his previous right thumb injury in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.  “I feel good. I just had to get my legs back, but there was no pain and soreness,” he shared.But aside from the momentum which they got from their win vs. Macau, what Brownlee sees is the possibility for them to double down on the recent success which saw them defeat the likes of top squads New Zealand and Latvia.“It’s an incredible challenge, of course,” commented Brownlee on ruling the Asia Cup. “You’ve got some really good teams out there, and we also kinda put Asia on notice as far as we’re here and we’ll be able to compete.”“But like Coach Tim [Cone] said, we want to be able to dominate Asia, and I think, with the team we have, it’s possible,” he added.Despite the injuries to Kai Sotto and Calvin Oftana, among the positives that got things going for Gilas so far are their extended training camp before their flight to Jeddah.Also providing optimism for the program are the consistent performances of Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, and Scottie Thompson, but Brownlee understands that it will take a lot more than these to maintain what they have been building on.“It’s gonna take an extreme amount of hard work, but I see a bright future for the Gilas program,” he said.

Justin Brownlee is confident that Gilas Pilipinas can bank on its upward trend as they battle against the continent’s best in the upcoming 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.

Justin Brownlee is confident that Gilas Pilipinas can bank on its upward trend as they battle against the continent’s best in the upcoming 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.

Gilas has tools to finally dominate at Asian level, says Brownlee

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Gilas has tools to finally dominate at Asian level, says Brownlee

Rom Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 28, 2025 11:12 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 28, 2025 11:50 PM PHT

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