AJ Edu is fifth-best player while Brownlee emerges as fourth-best scorer in Asia Cup
GILAS Pilipinas big man AJ Edu and top gun Justin Brownlee made their presence felt in the just-concluded FIBA Asia Cup, landing in the Top 5 of key statistical categories as the Philippines wound up seventh overall in the Jeddah competition.
Taking on the role of primary frontliner and defender, Mr. Edu finished as the fifth-best player of the tournament in the areas of rebounding (9.0 per game) and shot blocks (1.6 per outing).
Saudi Arabia’s 6-foot-10 center Mohammad Alsuwailem topped the said categories with 12.5 boards and 2.8 blocks.
Mr. Brownlee, meanwhile, emerged as the fourth-best scorer with 20.6 points a night behind Saudi’s Muhammad Ali Abdul Rahkman (26.0), Qatar’s Brandon Goodwin (25.3) and Syria’s Keron Deshields (25).
Guard Scottie Thompson ranked 11th overall in assists with 4.4 per match while sharing 20th spot in rebounding with Gilas backcourt pal Dwight Ramos and two others with six caroms per gig.
The troops of coach Tim Cone made it as far as the quarterfinals but was shown the door in a 60-84 beatdown by the Australia Boomers, who eventually completed a three-peat with a 90-89 win over China in the thrilling finale on Sunday night.
With a win-loss record of 2-3, the Nationals ranked behind unbeaten Australia, China, Iran, New Zealand, Chinese-Taipei and South Korea in the final standings of the 16-nation meet.
It was an improvement from the No. 9 placing in the 2022 edition in Indonesia, where Gilas (1-3) got stranded in the Qualification to the Quarterfinals stage, losing to Japan, 81-102.
Still, the early exit in the recent joust stings for the Nationals, who will try to bounce back in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers beginning November.
“We just had a tough tournament and whenever you’re losing, you just want to think about how to get better so that’s the mindset,” Mr. Ramos said on One Sports. — Olmin Leyba
