A JUSTIN emerged victorious in Easter Sunday’s clash between Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup.
Justin Patton, that is.
Patton ended up on the winning end of his first match-up against Justin Brownlee as San Miguel defeated Barangay Ginebra, 85-82. The Beermen import had 19 points, 17 rebounds while guarding Brownlee at some point of the fourth quarter.
Brownlee did get his usual numbers despite being guarded by Patton, who at 6-11 is much taller. Ginebra’s resident import had 31 points including 12 in the fourth quarter, but his performance was marred by bungled free throws in the endgame.
San Miguel coach Leo Austria admitted Patton asked to take on Brownlee, although he stuck to his plan to give the Ginebra import different looks on defense.
In the final play of the game, for example, it was Drei Cahilig who defended Brownlee, giving a nice contest to the potential game-tying three-point shot.
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“Actually, before the game, Justin Patton asked us if he can guard Brownlee but we were hesitant because we know Brownlee is really good whenever his guard is bigger than him. He can shoot from the perimeter, he can outrun him, he can drive, and that’s what happened,” said Austria.
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“But that’s not our only game plan. We also have a smaller guy. At the start, it was [Marcio] Lassiter and they took advantage of it. The next was Justin Patton, Mo Tautuaa, and Cahilig especially in the second quarter.
“We were able to limit his production at that time, but still, Brownlee is Brownlee. He was able to score 31 but the good thing was he wasn’t able to get rebounds. He only got three,’’ said Austria.
Aware of his counterpart’s reputation, Patton said he wanted to challenge himself in defending Brownlee. He was also aware of the Justin vs. Justin match-up that was a storyline for Sunday’s game.
“I want to guard him. It’s a challenge. I’m out here, 7,000 miles away from home. I didn’t come here for no reason. I want to challenge myself. I want to be great every single day I wake up,” said Patton.
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“They say he is the better Justin so I want to see. I see that he had a good game today but we came [up] with the ‘W.’ That’s all that matters,” the former NBA player added.
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After his second PBA game since replacing Marcus Lee, Patton is looking forward to more challenges.
“Every game presents a new challenge. You’ve got Justin Brownlee. We are a team that fight and we figure it out and that’s what we did today,” said Patton.
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