Kai Sotto was simply dominant for Gilas Pilipinas in the first window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, as he logged double-double figures. Can he do the same in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament?
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone has made no secret of the fact that he thinks highly of his 22-year-old big man Kai Sotto.
The 7-foot-3 Sotto registered an average double-double of 15.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in two games of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers last February.
It was enough for Cone to declare that the Kaiju would dominate Asia in the future.
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"If I may say, he's a perfect fit for our system, both offensively and defensively," Cone said in an interview with Carlo Pamintuan for the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP). "I think he'll just really I think he has a chance to really take off with us."
"It's interesting about Kai. I mean, when I watch Kai practice and when I watch him play, he is just absolutely dominant. I mean, there's so little he cannot do," he noted.
However, the PBA's winningest coach says there's still plenty for Kai to improve on. Sotto is expected to go up against the experienced bigs of Georgia and host Latvia in Group A of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Riga next month.
"He does lack a little bit of strength in terms of fighting for position underneath basket and I think that's going to come with age," Cone said as he raised his hands and shoulders, "He's only [22] years old. He hasn't even got built, developed into his body yet."
"So really, the sky is the limit."
Cone noted Sotto's experience bumping against tougher guys in Australia's National Basketball League as part of the Adelaide 36ers. He also had his best stint in the Japan B.League with the Yokohama B-Corsairs this year before going to free agency.
[ALSO READ: Kai Sotto enters B.League free agency as loan period with Yokohama ends]
"So it's not a stretch for him to go out and play against the bigger European players," the coach pointed out. "But I think in the in the competitive level that we're going to be at, the pressure is going to be on him to perform. Because he is going to be the main guy, one of the main guys, if not the main guy on our team. And that's going to to grow him, he's going to evolve and get better. And that's the whole point of doing this for over four years."
Cone shared that Sotto is expected to return from the United States by June 16 or 17, and will join Gilas Pilipinas by the 21st.
With Barangay Ginebra San Miguel eliminated in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals, Cone is expected to shift his focus in Gilas Pilipinas' training camp later this month. The winner of the Riga OQT in July will secure a berth to Paris 2024.