With Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers concluding in a 70-87 thrashing at the hands of New Zealand, one thing became clear—the team is struggling to fill a massive, 7-foot-3 void in its lineup.
After Kai Sotto suffered an ACL tear in the Japanese B.League back in January, Tim Cone and the rest of Gilas scrambled to compensate for his absence.
The Koshigaya Alpha big man was a crucial piece of Gilas’ success in 2024. He thrived in Cone’s triangle offense with impressive averages of 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in the FIBA Asia Qualifiers.
“We lost a really — obviously key, key player for a year in terms of Kai Sotto. So we’re still trying to adjust how to play without him and that’s the things we’re gonna be talking about and thinking about as we go into the FIBA Asia Cup,” lamented Cone after the game against the Tall Blacks.
(C) FIBA.basketball
To prepare for life without their towering rim protector, Cone opted to field the team in the Doha International Cup, experimenting with new rotations.
However, the plan backfired in the short term, as Gilas struggled mightily in the tournament, highlighted by an 86-55 blowout loss to Egypt.
Those struggles carried over into the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, where Gilas also suffered a 91-84 defeat to Chinese Taipei.
“Well you know these windows are so short, we’re together so little. We were able to do a Doha trip before we came here just to try and get more time together and play more games. It probably hurt us more than it helped us in terms of being ready for Taiwan and New Zealand,” admitted the five-time PBA Coach of the Year.
Despite the disappointing results, Cone remains focused on the bigger picture, knowing that Gilas has already secured its spot in the FIBA Asia Cup.
While the losses are tough to swallow, the Barangay Ginebra tactician understands the long-term value of these additional reps in helping the team adjust to Sotto’s absence.
“But we were trying to look at the bigger picture in terms of the FIBA Asia coming up because we know we’re not gonna have much time, maybe eight-10 days at most to be able to come together and prepare for that tournament,” Cone added.
“Everything we do, just like Coach Judd (Flavell) is saying, it’s cumulative, it’s cumulative experiences. We’re trying to take each window as an experience and move onto the next one and the next one and hopefully grow it and improve.”
Up next for Gilas Pilipinas is the FIBA Asia Cup draw on April 8, where their group-stage opponents will be determined.
