WHILE the FIBA Asia Cup is still six months away, Gilas Pilipinas will have to find ways to compete without its biggest player—literally and figuratively.
National coach Tim Cone admitted the likely absence of 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto due to an ACL injury would pose problems for the team in the tilt set in August in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“We lost a really, obviously, a key, key player for a year in Kai Sotto, and so we’re still trying to adjust how to play without him,” Cone said.
“That’s the things we’re going to be talking about and thinking about as we go into the FIBA Asia Cup,” he added.
Sotto’s injury took its toll on the Philippine five, which went 1-2 in the Doha International Friendly Basketball Championship.
The Filipino cagers posted a come-from-behind 74-71 victory over Qatar in their opening match before yielding to Lebanon (54-75) and Egypt (55-86).
Then Gilas absorbed two straight losses in the third and final window of the qualifiers to Chinese Taipei 84-91 and New Zealand 70-87 last week.
The Nationals wound up with a 4-2 record —good enough to advance to the Asia Cup.
Sotto averaged 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in Gilas’ four wins in the qualifiers before the injury he suffered last month while seeing action for the Koshigaya Alphas in the Japan B.League.
That left the likes of reigning eight-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, veteran Japeth Aguilar, and rising star AJ Edu to man the frontline for Gilas.
Playmaker Chris Newsome offered a different take worth looking at—they must come out with better defensive games,a especially on enemy territory.
“For us, we just have to do better defensively in starting games,” he said after their disappointing loss to the Tall Blacks. “It’s one of those games where we wish we could’ve played better but that’s how basketball goes. You win some and you lose some.
“It’s tough whenever you fall behind early in the game and you try to claw your way back on the game, especially on the road.”
