The PBA Governors' Cup has provided the venue for marquee imports to showcase their world-class skills and produce big numbers for their respective teams.
Just this weekend, Ginebra's Justin Brownlee dished out his second straight triple-double outing - a feat coach Tim Cone described as par for the course for the resident Gin Kings reinforcement - while TNT KaTropa's KJ McDaniels and San Miguel Beermen's Dez Wells lit up the scoreboards with 51 and 52 points, respectively, in separate matches.
Brownlee's 28 markers, 14 rebounds and 14 assists in the Gin Kings' 129-125 bounce-back victory at the expense of the previously undefeated Beermen Sunday night capped a string of super performances from the super imports. He made this as a follow-up to his 42-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist statline the previous week in a 111-113 heartbreaker to NLEX over in Dubai.
"That's becoming a norm for him, right?" said Cone. "Like it's kinda surprising if he does not do a triple double."
Brownlee deflects the credit, giving it to his teammates instead.
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"I hope it's a norm but it's really tough. But we got to give a lot of credit to the team. They hit some shots. LA (Tenorio), man, he came up with big shots, Stanley (Pringle) had a big game, Japeth (Aguilar) and Greg (Slaughter), his presence is huge," the do-it-all import said. Those 14 assists, I credit that to the team."
Cone praised Brownlee's indefatiguable spirit.
"I was trying to keep him fresh which is impossible to do because he plays with such heart all the time and he just goes all out, that's why a lot of times, six and eight minutes into the game, hes badly in cramps. He's in tremendous shape and he just gives his all, all the time," he said.
Brownlee was engaged in an explosive match-up with Wells, who scored 15-14-11-12 per quarter on an 18-of-37 clip (48.6 percent) that went with seven boards and five dimes.
"Dezmine was just incredible; he had 52 points and the way he did (was incredible)," said the Ginebra reinforcement, who took his round with his team's victory.
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The Brownlee-Wells showdown came a day after McDaniels dropped 51 in the KaTropa's 116-113 disposal of Meralco.
"He's an NBA talent and we saw that Saturday night," said Meralco import Allen Durham, who himself delivered a whopping statline of 43 markers, 12 caroms and nine feeds for the Bolts in that Petron Blaze Saturday Special duel with McDaniels.
For McDaniels, it's not about achieving personal scoring milestones.
"I don't really go out there to score points. I just want to keep better and keep making my teammates better," he said. "I just go out there to do what I have to help the team." (OL)
