MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas could be forced to play with an 11-man roster at the 2026 Asian Games if injured naturalized player Justin Brownlee remains unavailable.
Head coach Tim Cone said the team is giving the 12th slot to Brownlee just in case he is cleared to play in time for the Asian Games, where the Philippines is defending its men's basketball title.
“Yes, there’s a chance [of having 11 players],” Cone said in a Zoom interview.
“If we look back in the Olympic Qualifier Tournament, we lost Scottie (Thompson) right before the tournament, and we ended up going in with 11 players. We didn’t beat a team there, and we’ll be fine,” he added.
If Brownlee can't play, his minutes will be distributed to the other players.
“I think 11 is a really good number from a coach’s standpoint. Not feeling like you have to force other guys to play there just because you have less. The other guys get satisfied, I don’t know… but, it’s easier from a coach's standpoint,” cone said.
“You know we haven’t had any confirmation yet on Justin on whether he’s going to be here or not, but the door is still open for him. He’s still working on his clearances from his doctors in the States. As soon as that is cleared out, we will have a clearer picture as well.”
