TIM Cone expects Carl Tamayo to play a pivotal role for Gilas Pilipinas this year, especially with big man Kai Sotto out with an ACL injury.
The national team coach and his staff have been monitoring the games of Gilas players seeing action overseas and it’s the 6-foot-7 Tamayo who has caught their eyes with the way he’s been playing for the Changwon LG Sakers in the Korean Basketball League.
“Carl is killing in Korea at this point. So we’re excited about seeing all this improvement when he joins the team,” said Cone before Gilas left for Doha, Qatar early Thursday morning for its five-day training camp in preparation for the coming FIBA Asia Cup.
“He’s one of the guys who will help us replace Kai.”
The former University of the Philippines stalwart will join the national team in the Qatari capital straight from Korea after playing for Changwon Wednesday night in a 77-68 win over league-leader Seoul SK Knights.
The Filipino import finished with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal in LG Sakers’ third straight win to improve at 24-14 and tied with second-running Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus.
Tamayo, who turned 24 on Thursday (Feb. 13), posted a KBL career-high 37 points just a month ago in a 92-88 loss to the Seoul Samsung Thunders.
READ: Carl Tamayo named MVP of third round of KBL season
He was 17-of-19 from the field, including 15-of-15 from the two-point range in a performance that surpassed the previous high of a Filipino import in the KBL held by SJ Belangel who had 36 points in a 114-77 win by the Daegu KOGAS Pegasus over the Thunders.
Those solid performances obviously weren’t lost on Cone.
“He should be one of the guys getting major minutes on the team if he continues to play at the level he’s been playing in Korea,” said the Gilas mentor.
“That’s one of the guys we can rely on.”
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