KAI Sotto was understandably thrilled after being called up for the Gilas Pilipinas game against Korea in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers on Wednesday.
“We already told Kai that he will be part of the team and he was really thrilled,” said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) program director and concurrent Gilas coach Tab Baldwin.
There were questions surrounding Sotto’s inclusion in the team as he only had a few practices due to the 14-day quarantine he had to go through after arriving from the US.
But Baldwin is convinced that the 7-foot-3 center is ready for the opportunity.
“Kai was able to join us in a previous training bubble when we were preparing to play the games in Doha, Qatar. We accomplished a lot with him during that time but unfortunately those games were cancelled,” Baldwin said.
“Naturally, we were worried about how much of that will stay with him but the coaching staff was pleased to find out that he has great retention of information. There is a solid foundation of knowledge from his past experience with us that helped him process the new information we introduced since then.”
Sotto will join newly naturalized Filipino Ange Kouame and Isaac Go in the frontline alongside former Batang Gilas teammates Carl Tamayo and Geo Chiu in the 6 p.m. game against Korea.
Baldwin, however, reminds Filipino basketball fans to temper their expectations as Sotto is coming off a unique pandemic challenge before debuting with the national team.
“Not being able to do any basketball activities for 14 days will take its toll on anyone so there will be a bit of load management from our part for Kai,” explained the newly-installed head coach. “He did his best to stay in shape during that period but it’s a very quick turnaround. We don’t want to rush him back because, as we’ve said in the past, we cannot risk our long-term goals for short-term gains.”
With the SBP’s goal of developing professionals, Sotto will be one of many who will make their debut in the national team with players such as Tamayo, RJ Abarrientos, and LeBron Lopez, who are with the team in Clark even if they have not played a single minute in the collegiate level yet.
"There will be parts in the game that we will only use systems that we have been able to indoctrinate him into, but the coaching staff believes that the positives gained by his inclusion will far outweigh the negatives. We think he's ready and he deserves it."
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