Mike Oliver sees great upside on 14-year-old 6’11 Kai Sotto

AT 14 years old, Kai Sotto is already a towering presence.

Standing 6-foot-11 and possessing a game that includes a decent outside touch and dribbling skills that cannot be easily found among big men in Philippine basketball, Mr. Sotto is definitely the future of Philippine basketball.

Batang Gilas coach Michael Oliver agrees with basketball observers’ opinion on the second generation player, son of former PBA player Ervin Sotto.

“Definitely, he is the future of Philippine basketball. With his height, his skills and the upside in his game, he is no doubt the future of Philippine basketball,” Mr. Oliver told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview.

Mr. Sotto is expected to crack the final 12 line up of Batang Gilas team competing in the SEABA Under-16 tournament, which will be held two weeks from now.

Aside from Mr. Sotto, those players included in the Batang Gilas pool are RC Calimag of San Beda, Shaun Chiu of PACE, Daniel Coo of St. John Bacolod, Raven Cortez of La Salle Zobel, Terrence Fortea of National University, Rafael Go of Changkai Shek, McLaude Guadaña of Lyceum, Joshua Lazaro of San Beda, Bismarck Lina of University of Santo Tomas, Lloyd Oliva of La Salle Greenhills, Rence Padrigao, Jose Miguel Pascual of San Beda, and Miguel Tan and Ryan Yu of Xavier School.

Mr. Oliver believes Mr. Sotto is slowly developing as a bonafide big man.

“We’re seeing some progress in his game. Before, he knows he’s taller against kids his age, so he doesn’t jump and just used his height advantage against them,” added Mr. Oliver. “Now, he has to learn how to bang bodies with bigger guys, needs to jump and has to use his dribbling skills and outside shooting against more experienced players.”

To hone their skills more and give the players a fitting workout in time for the SEABA Under-16, Mr. Oliver decided to include Batang Gilas in the Got Skills Competition and Fr. Martin’s Cup. They went up against collegiate teams.

“We were able to win one against Lyceum’s Team B, but the rest, we lost the games, but we got the workout we needed to prepare ourselves more in time for SEABA,” added Mr. Oliver. “I think we need a couple more games and we will be ready for battle.”