WHY not Justin Brownlee?
For former Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Marcus Douthit, the resident Ginebra do-it-all import could spell the big difference if and when he becomes the team’s new naturalized player.
“Honestly, my opinion is that I think they should go after someone like Justin Brownlee,” Douthit said during the Extra Session podcast.
“I think right now, he is perfect just because he can play different positions, and we still have June Mar (Fajardo) and we still got (Kai) Sotto coming up, too. Those guys need minutes for international playing,” he added.
With the likes of reigning six-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo and 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto likely to suit up for Gilas, Brownlee’s ability to play multiple positions and familiarity with Philippine basketball makes the 6-foot-5 forward one of the leading candidates for the team’s next naturalized player.
“Everyone is thinking like ‘Oh, we need a big guy.’ Right now, the game isn’t all about the big guys. Justin (Brownlee) has been playing in the Philippines longer than I have,” explained the Syracuse, New York-born Douthit.
“So, he knows everything, and you don’t have to convince him to be a naturalized player.
You don’t have to sell him to the country. He is on there.”
It takes one to know one.
The 6-foot-11 Douthit served as Gilas’ naturalized player from 2010-2014 and played a big role in the nationals’ silver medal finish in the 2013 FIBA Asia championship in Manila.
Douthit was replaced by former NBA campaigner Andray Blatche in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain but played in the Asian Games in Incheon as Blatche was deemed ineligible by the Olympic Council of Asia because he lacked the required three-year residency in the Philippines.
Blatche has likely finished his stint with Gilas after the FIBA World Cup in China last year.
Among those who have expressed their desire to be naturalized players are 6-foot-9 Chris McCullough, who led San Miguel Beer to last year’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup title; 6-foot-9 Terrence Jones, who played for runner-up TNT in that conference, and 6-foot-10 Angelo Kouame of Ivory Coast, who plays for defending three-time UAAP champion Ateneo.
McCullough has seen action in the NBA for Brooklyn and Washington, while Jones had stints with Houston, New Orleans, and Milwaukee.
Brownlee, 32, has won four crowns for the Kings and a Best Import award in the 2018 mid-season tourney.
Douthit is convinced the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas should consider Brownlee.
“I think that’s what they (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) should be doing (consider Brownlee),” he said. “He knows the country just as well as Filipinos that live there.”
