THE worst fear of true-blue Gilas Pilipinas fans became a reality.
Kai Sotto will be sidelined for at least six months after the Koshigaya Alphas’ prized center in the Japan B.League suffered an ACL injury.
“The worst way to start the year, might be the darkest day of my basketball career, when I was told I tore my ACL,” the 7-foot-3 Sotto said yesterday on his social media account. “Tough to let this one sink in. I appreciate all the love and support everyone has given me these past few days.
“I know God has a better plan for me and we just have to keep going,” he added.
Sotto went down with an apparent left knee injury against the Seahorses Mikawa last Sunday.
National coach Tim Cone said in an earlier interview reserves Japeth Aguilar and Mason Amos will most likely be tapped as replacements.
“That’s why we have Japeth. Japeth is there to replace any of the bigs that we have,” Cone said. “If you can tell me there’s another big man out there that matches Japeth’s size and ability, then I’ll be happy to look at him.
“But we also have Mason Amos to fortify us if we lose someone like Jamie or if one of the other guards can’t play.”
Still perfect with a 4-0 mark in Group B of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, the Nationals have already clinched a berth in the tilt set for Aug. 5 to 17 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Gilas tackles Chinese Taipei and New Zealand on the road on Feb. 20 and Feb. 23, respectively.
Cone’s troops mauled the Chinese 93-71 in June last year and stunned the Tall Blacks 93-89 last November.
Naturalized star Justin Brownlee leads Cone’s 14-man training pool that also includes the likes of reigning eight-time pro league MVP June Mar Fajardo, former MVP Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Jamie Malonzo, and Kevin Quiambao.
Overseas-based standouts Sotto, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, and AJ Edu complete the pool.
Another naturalized cager in 6-foot-10 Ange Kouame can also beef up Gilas’ frontline although Cone will have to choose between Kouame or Brownlee on who will get the spot.
