ABL: Alab Pilipinas brings back Justin Brownlee

By Jonas Terrado

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas received a major boost to its title bid in the ASEAN Basketball League after bringing back import Justin Brownlee for the rest of the season.

Team owner Charlie Dy on Sunday confirmed the change that will see the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel resident import replacing the struggling Prince Williams.

Dy added that Brownlee is due to arrive Monday morning and could possibly join the team’s afternoon practice session.

Brownlee will make his debut Wednesday night when Alab visits Malaysia to take on the Kuala Lumpur Dragons.

Both parties had been open about a potential reunion, especially after Brownlee led Ginebra to the PBA Governors’ Cup title last month.

And now that it is official, the Jimmy Alapag-coached squad is hoping that Brownlee’s addition will give Alab the short in the arm it needed to overcome a tipsy-turvy campaign in the regional league.

Alab is currently in second place with a 9-5 record, but has posted just five wins in the last nine games.

The 31-year-old Brownlee, who will join 7-foot-5 Sam Deguara and southpaw Nick King as the Alab’s other imports, hopes to replicate the ABL title run made two seasons ago.

He averaged 21.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks in 25 games as Alab bucked a 1-4 start to capture the crown with a roster that included fellow import Renaldo Balkman and Local Most Valuable Player Ray Parks Jr.

Brownlee replaces Williams, who averaged just 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in six games that saw Alab going 4-2.

Williams, a former NBA G-League player, came in last month following the sudden departure of guard Khalif Wyatt.

Alab has made four import changes since the preseason, including King as a replacement for Balkman and Deguara taking the place of Adrian Forbes.

Source: Manila Bulletin