MANILA, Philippines — A week ago, Kai Sotto was still in the middle of concussion protocol. He was deemed questionable to play for Gilas Pilipinas, who is set to face World No. 22 New Zealand in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
A win for the Philippines would have given them a strong chance to punch an outright ticket to next year’s Asia Cup, but they are facing an uphill battle against the Tall Blacks, whom they lost to in their previous four games.
This underscored the importance of the 7-foot-3 behemoth for the Nationals, who will already play without AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo.
Fast forward to Thursday’s game, Sotto, who cleared the concussion protocol a few days ago, had his best game in a Gilas jersey.
The 22-year-old center finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and a steal in 33 minutes of play in the Nationals’ 93-89 win at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Sotto, who started alongside June Mar Fajardo, shot an efficient 8-of-14 from the field despite missing both of his attempts from beyond the arc.
After the game, head coach Tim Cone tipped his hat to the young big man.
“I just love the commitment that Kai is showing, coming in every day… Poor guy had to go through two-a-day practices coming off a concussion and still battled through it all,” he told reporters at the postgame press conference.
With Gilas trailing by two, 52-54, with less than six minutes left in the third, Fajardo was subbed out, leaving Sotto as the only big man on the court for the Philippines.
This seemingly turned the tides for Gilas, as they unleashed a 16-0 run capped by a Carl Tamayo layup to go up 72-60 with 47 seconds remaining. During that stretch, Sotto was heavily involved — he scored five points, grabbed two rebounds, a block, a steal and an assist – before being subbed out with 1:15 left in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, he also had four points, including an emphatic dunk with 4:30 to go. And, with Gilas holding on to a 93-89 led with about 10 seconds left, Sotto also had a huge block on Taylor Britt with time winding down, icing the game as he wagged his finger.
Cone said that while he enjoys playing Fajardo and Sotto side-by-side, his decision to keep the latter on the floor while the former rested turned the tides.
“We wanted to go a little smaller and quicker so we could defend the ball screens a little bit better. So that was the choice we made and that kinda keyed us into our run,” he stressed.
“I just love playing June Mar and Kai together. I think it’s so much fun to watch those guys play, they have great synergy between the two of them, they look for each other and they complement each other and I think the two of them work really, really hard to be successful together,” he added.
“You don’t see very many two power inside guys playing the game together any more these days. It’s really fun to watch them play. I really enjoy it.”
For his part, Sotto deferred the credit to his teammates.
“I think it’s just a great team win. Everybody, as I said, contributed and I’m just very happy we got the win. We really worked hard in terms of preparation. And coming into this game, we wanted to bring our A-game because we know how good New Zealand is,” he told reporters.
“We really respect them as a team. I’m just happy we got the win and hopefully we get another one against Hong Kong,” he added.
The 3-0 Gilas will try to formalize the Asia Cup entry on Sunday against Hong Kong at the same venue.