JUSTIN Brownlee gave credit to Barangay Ginebra's medical and conditioning team and the Gin Kings' faithful for helping him soldier on in the PBA Commissioner's Cup finals despite a dislocated right thumb.
After missing the last 18 minutes of Game 3 due to the painful hand injury, Brownlee bravely returned to action in the fourth match last Friday and with only medical tape holding the battered thumb in place, powered the Gin Kings to a 95-78 equalizer over TNT.
"Man, it's been a little tough but the guys on the staff - Arcee and Nards - they did a really good job as far as just keeping the thumb stable," said Brownlee, referring to physical therapist Arcee Cua and nurse Nards Hugo.
"So it's just a lot of ice and yeah, just trying to mentally prepare myself, you know to try to go through the game. Luckily, I had the support from the team, the whole coaching staff and everybody so I just wanted to go out there and be there for the team and just try to get a win."
Tagged as a game-time decision in Game 4, Brownlee entered the Ynares Center floor for the warm-up to cheers from the early birds in the Antipolo venue.
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"I had my earphones on so I couldn't really hear the crowd too much. But I definitely heard them and you know the fans of Ginebra are like no other; they're always here to support us, give us great energy," he said.
"And then, when I came out and heard the crowd, it was just a feeling of comfort and I became more energetic from the crowd," he added.
The most immediate concern now for the Gin Kings is to get Brownlee "good to go" again in Sunday's Game 5 tiebreaker.
"It's not one of those injuries that 's going to get better over time. He's probably going to need some surgery (at some point) and so we'll just try to administer it, do the best we can," said coach Tim Cone.
Like Brownlee, Cone gave props to Cua and Hugo, whom he dubbed as Ginebra's MVPs.
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"They're going to be our MVPs right now, our most important people on the team getting him (Brownlee) ready for practice Saturday and for the game on Sunday," said Cone.(OL)
