QUENTIN Millora-Brown had no regrets suiting up last-minute for Gilas Pilipinas, which went winless in the second window of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
The 6-foot-10 Filipino-American big man told the media that playing for the Philippines in front of its ever supportive hometown crowd is “absolutely worth it always.”
The former one-and-done University of the Philippines slotman provided a lot of energy despite joining the team with just a few days to go before playing New Zealand.
He went on to finish with averages pf 9.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 19.5 minutes in window 2.
Gilas though dropped a narrow 66-69 decision to New Zealand, before getting hammered by world no. 6-ranked Australia, 93-66 last Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“Always an amazing experience. Always an honor to represent. Only 12 guys get this opportunity per window. I take pride in that. I’m excited for the team’s future and growth,” Millora-Brown said.
The hard-banging Filipino-American slotman has played four games for the Philippines, an experience Millora-Brown valued a lot as he is now getting more and more confident under coach Tim Cone’s system.
“This window was really good for me, just building my confidence, getting a feel for the system,” said the Gilas front court man known by his initials QMB. “The last two games, I started figuring out where I fit well, where I can score. Defensively, that’s always there.”
The scrappy big man who plays for Chiba Jets in Japan B.League understands the importance of playing within his given role, one of which is to ensure naturalized player
Justin Brownlee and Gilas’ outside shooters get to their sweet spot on offense.
“Just continuing to do those things, trying to get Justin a little bit better looks, finding ways to get him and our shooters open, get them to their confidence spots,” noted Millora-Brown.
Millora-Brown also shared that there are tons of lessons Gilas can learn from the 27-point beating the team got from Australia, which they hope could make them better when they play the Boomers again this July.
“We never really got into a confident flow throughout the game. They kept taking us out of our spots,” he observed.
“We need to break their physicality. Find ways to get downhill, get past the elbow. Those are things we need to do to win.”