Meralco wary of Justin Brownlee after Game 1 shooting slump (Sabong News)
Author
Jonas Terrado
Date
APRIL 07 2022
Meralco coach Norman Black expects Barangay Ginebra San Miguel import Justin Brownlee to bounce back from his shooting struggles when the two teams return to action Friday, April 8 in Game 2 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
Brownlee scored 27 points during Ginebra’s 104-91 defeat in Game 1 but was 7-of-20 from the field which turned out to be his worst shooting game since the start of the conference.
He also missed five of his seven attempts from three-point country, also a conference-low.
Black was surprised when told of Brownlee’s numbers since he felt that the frontrunner for the Best Import award played his usual game.
“I thought Justin played pretty well,” Black said. “He might not have shot at the percentage he’s been shooting lately, but I thought he still was an offensive threat out there and he was somebody that we had to really try to defend every time down the court.”
That’s why Meralco will try to map out a plan to deal with a potential Brownlee resurgence as Ginebra aims to tie the series at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“It’s always gonna be a challenge to try to slow down JB because he is so potent and he’s so effective out there on the basketball court,” said Black.
“He shot 7-for-20? Well, I’m sure he’ll probably want to improve on that next game, so we have to be ready to play defense again.”
The Bolts mentor is also bracing for Scottie Thompson and Christian Standhardinger to do well for the Gin Kings.
Thompson finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while Standhardinger had 20 points and 14 boards.
