CHICAGO - Fresh from a heroic triumph at the SEA Games in Cambodia where the national team kept its promise to reclaim the basketball gold medal, coach Chot Reyes and Gilas Pilipinas are getting ready to go back to work.
"We resume practice next week," Reyes told SPIN.ph on Friday morning.
And as the team ramps up preparations for the 2023 FIBA World Cup which the country will co-host with Japan and Indonesia, Reyes revealed that Gilas would depart for Lithuania on "June 20 or 21."
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During the brief interview, the proverbial elephant in the room was addressed: Will Kai Sotto be in the World Cup roster?
"We don't know but we are operating on the mentality that Kai won't be with us," Reyes said.
When pressed who he had in mind to fill the void in the event Sotto misses the World Cup, Reyes said AJ Edu has arrived in the country "a few days ago" and he will be seriously considered as Gilas goes into training mode.
The 21-year old Sotto is currently in the US where he participated in the Utah Jazz mini camp on Thursday (Friday Manila time). He is expected to take part in more mini camps before eventually heading to Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League in July.
Per sources, Kai did "good" and "had a great experience" in his first NBA mini camp. The former Ateneo star is headed back to Los Angeles before going to his next camp.
READ: Kai Sotto takes part in Jazz mini camp
Kai recently signed a contract extension with the Hiroshima Dragonflies of the Japan B.League. But that deal had an NBA opt-out clause.
While Reyes supports Kai's NBA dreams and understands the complexities of his schedule, the nine-time PBA champion coach, who is currently on leave from his head-coaching post at TNT, reiterated a prior edict.
Kai needs to practice with Gilas for an extended period of time for him to earn a spot in the World Cup roster on August.
Sotto's presence - or absence - is expected to impact Gilas' selection process in a big way, since having a 7-3, 232-lb. pound center in the middle will allow Reyes to pick either Jordan Clarkson or Justin Brownlee for the naturalized player spot.
Without Sotto, Gilas may consider getting a big man, like naturalized player Ange Kouame, for the naturalized player position, just to address the obvious lack of size in the frontline, even with an Edu or June Mar Fajardo there.
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