Jul 22, 2018

Coach Tim Cone's prodding inspires Brownlee to step up early

Justin Brownlee did not only exploded for 44 points but also continued his streak of aggressive start in the PBA Commissioner's Cup on Saturday.

His 25 points in the first half marked the fourth straight game that the beloved import has scored at least 20 in the first 24 minutes of play, a big reason why Ginebra is one game away from advancing to the finals of the league's second conference.

Leading Ginebra's early onslaughts is something Brownlee embraced through the urging of coach Tim Cone.

"Coach Tim always tells me to be aggressive," Brownlee said after Ginebra took a 2-1 lead in its best-of-5 semi-final series against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters with a 75-72 win at the Mall of Asia Arena.

"He always puts me in what I feel like a perfect situation for me to be successful on the offensive end. Like what my teammates have been doing this whole conference and throughout the playoffs, they get me the ball in comfortable situations for myself and I've been able to capitalize," he added.

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The streak begun in Game 2 of the quarterfinal series against Meralco when Brownlee scored 24 of his 36 points in the first two quarters to complete Ginebra's sweep of the best-of-three affair with a 104-90 victory.

He continued that trend in the semis opener against Rain or Shine last July 15, making 20 by halftime before finishing with 35 in Ginebra's 102-89 triumph.

Brownlee again went for 20 in the first half of Game 2, only to be held to just nine the rest of the way as Rain or Shine tied the series at 1-1 with a 109-100 win.

Game 3 saw Brownlee making 14 of 19 shots throughout the contest, helping Ginebra lead by as many as 25. Rain or Shine nearly stole the game in the end, but a series of outside jumpers by Brownlee repelled the Elasto Painters' late charge.

"I felt good. Everytime I shoot, I felt it was going in. Whenever I feel like that, I just want to stay aggressive and help the team win," Brownlee said.(JT)

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