Justin Brownlee On Playing Against The Ryukyu Golden Kings In The EASL: 'It's An Honor'

The Meralco Bolts look to get a win in a Do-or-Die game on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum against the Ryukyu Golden Kings and book a ticket to the EASL Finals. The Ryukyu Golden Kings, meanwhile, got a dub on the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots in Okinawa last month but failed to the clinch the EASL Finals due to the tiebreaker quotient system in place.

In his first season in the EASL, Justin Brownlee is enjoying his time playing for the Meralco Bolts. He's glad the team welcomed him with open arms despite their history in the PBA.

"It's always a pleasure to represent the Philippines and playing with Meralco. It's been great," Brownlee said after their practice session at the Meralco Gym last week. "They accepted me with open arms, despite, obviously, the history we have. But, I've been enjoying my time, building chemistry with the team."

The lone PBA team representing the Philippines in the EASL is currently on a three-game winning streak. Meralco got a dub in Justin Brownlee's debut game in the EASL a couple of months ago. The win also came at the cost of losing Rondae Hollis-Jefferson due to a knee injury at the time.

"The first game was great. We won, you know, obviously it was a big downer for us when we lost RHJ [Rondae Hollis-Jefferson]. " the Gilas Pilipinas naturalized import admitted. "He was a huge part of this team. He was doing a lot of great things and not only for this team, but in his career."

With the game on the line on Wednesday, the Ryukyu Golden Kings' defense could focus on Justin Brownlee and cause some problems for the Meralco Bolts' offense. For Brownlee, on the other hand, isn't worried about it at all.

"I think they definitely got to focus on a lot of guys on our side. I think we got a lot of weapons on this Meralco team. Obviously, we got some really good Imports, Sina [Vahedi] and Ismael Romero, they have been playing very well at a high level since they've been here," Brownlee stressed. "They definitely deserve a lot of focus as well, and as far as the locals, too."

So far, Justin Brownlee is enjoying the competition in the EASL and is honored to be playing against the B.League's Ryukyu Golden Kings on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

"It's an honor. They have some really good ball clubs in Japan, and it's good to just challenge yourself and go against that type of competition," Brownlee said.