Sotto sparkling under Cone system
It didn’t take long for Kai Sotto to prove his real worth.
After a forgettable performance in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, Kai Sotto is shining, dropping a pair of double-double performances in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
Sotto was a picture of confidence as he delivered 18 points and 10 rebounds when Gilas Pilipinas pulled off a 53-point massacre of Chinese Taipei, 106-53, late Sunday at the Philsports Arena.
Prior to that, the 21-year-old slotman fired 13 points and 15 rebounds in Gilas Pilipinas’ 94-64 victory over Hong Kong last Thursday at the Tsuen Wan Stadium in the former British colony.
All in all, Sotto emerges as the second-leading scorer for Gilas Pilipinas with 15.5 points per game and team-best 12.5 rebounds, numbers that are far from his production under head coach Chot Reyes during the World Cup last year.
Sotto said it’s all about the system and the faith being put on him by new Gilas coach Tim Cone.
“For me, whenever a coach gives you a huge role, your confidence goes sky-high. He might not tell it to me directly but Coach Tim trusts me a lot,” the 7-foot-3 Sotto said.
“It’s a good start. We’re looking at the bigger picture, that’s four years from now, eight years from now.”
With the way Sotto is playing, Cone believes that he can dominate not just the Philippines, but the entire Asia as well.
“Right now, if I may say, he is going to absolutely dominate Asia. I’ve always felt that,” Cone said following their masterful conquest of the Taiwanese.
“If you get him to the right spots, he can absolutely dominate Asia.” Cone, however, said he will be prepared if and when a team in the National Basketball Association gives Sotto a call-up. “And there might be a time that we might lose Kai. He may not be able to join us because he might be in the NBA and we’ll be very, very proud of that,” he said. Sotto’s enthusiasm to play for Cone was very obvious the moment the American mentor was appointed as full-time Gilas coach.
In fact, unlike in the buildup for the World Cup, Sotto was among the early birds who showed up when Gilas Pilipinas held a training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna. “I think confidence comes from preparation and I think we prepared really well. When we got to inspire, we went to training camp. We trained twice a day, it was tough, it was tiring, but we learned so much, so as coach said, it showed today (Sunday),” Sotto said.