EVER since he took the job as the head tactician of Gilas Pilipinas, Tim Cone has been outspoken about coaching the national team with Kai Sotto and AJ Edu at his disposal.
Circumastances prevented that team-up from happening during Cone's watch.
When Sotto played during the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers, Edu was out due to a meniscus tear he sustained while playing in the Japan B.League in early 2024.
When Edu became available, it was Sotto's turn to be sidelined after he was diagnosed with an ACL tear also in the Japan B.League in early 2025.
READ: Kai Sotto's return gives Gilas reprieve with Brownlee sidelined
Cone finally gets that chance after Sotto agreed to re-join Gilas Pilipinas for the important window in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers where the team enters their game against Jordan on Friday and Iran on Sunday with a 2-4 win-loss record.
Cone is excited with how the Gilas Pilipinas frontcourt will look in games with the 7-foot-3 Sotto and the 6-foot-10 Edu getting a chance to either play together or take turns on the court.
Combining the two young bigs alongside veteran June Mar Fajardo excites Cone as it allows Sotto and Edu to play the forward position.
“I'm real excited about that,” Cone said on the Sotto-Edu team-up that will happen for the first time since the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup when Chot Reyes was still Gilas head coach.
“Those guys, they complement each other, I think, very well. And I think it's fun. And you add June Mar to the mix, we've got a real good big man rotation. And AJ and Kai are both versatile enough to play the four position. So it gives us a little bit of versatility in our frontline."
But while Cone finally gets his wish, Gilas Pilipinas, however, will miss a player that will certainly make that triple tower combination even more potent.
“Ironically, we get Kai and AJ together, but now we're missing Justin. So, you know, it would have been ideal, obviously, to have Justin. But from that, we have to move on and figure it out,” Cone said.
“It's going to get more opportunity for guys like KQ (Kevin Quiambao) and Carl (Tamayo) to step up and get major minutes, for Dwight (Ramos) to be more of a take-charge guy. So you lose someone, but that means other people get opportunities. And we're going to try to take advantage of those opportunities,” Cone added.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
