THE possibility of Kai Sotto rejoining Gilas Pilipinas for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers is among the factors that keep Tim Cone high on the national team's campaign in the tournament.
The Philippines' coach bared the likelihood of the 7-foot-3 modern big man rejoining Gilas in time for the first window of the qualifiers in late November.
Sotto is coming off an ACL injury he suffered last January that kept him out of the final window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
But Cone broached the idea Sotto might finally be given the go-signal to play around October.
"We heard that he might be back in October or late October and that might be enough time for him to get into the first window," said Cone Friday night after Barangay Ginebra's 119-112 win over Phoenix in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Philsports Arena.
READ: Ginebra makes it back-to-back wins by blowing away Phoenix
"We're hoping we can get Kai back at some point during that time."
Gilas' tall task
The Philippines has been drawn in a tough bracket for the six-window qualifiers that will see the Filipinos battle Asia-Oceania giants Australia and New Zealand along with Guam in Group A.
READ: Cone not losing sleep over tough Gilas draw in World Cup qualifiers
Daunting as the task may be, Cone believes Gilas can do it with the help of the 23-year-old Sotto.
The champion coach mentioned how Sotto played a major role in the Philippines beating world No. 6 Latvia during the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament and a first-ever win over the Tall Blacks in a FIBA-sanctioned tournament during the Asia Cup qualifiers last November.
"I'll say it. With Kai we can beat anybody. We've proven that. We've played the No. 6 team in the world in their house and beat them," said Cone, obviously referring to Gilas' 89-80 win over Latvia in its capital city of Riga.
"We can beat anybody if we get Kai back out there."
Also on Friday, Sotto announced on his social media accounts about re-signing with Japan B.League team Koshigaya Alphas, indicating he's on the road to full recovery from his ACL injury.
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