Yeng Guiao feels amazed by the progress Kai Sotto has made based on his solid play for Gilas Pilipinas in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
The 19-year-old made his senior debut in the recent meet and went on to prove why many see him as one of the pillars of the program. He helped the Filipino dribblers sweep the Clark window — much to the delight of many.
And among those beaming with pride was the former national team mentor, noting how Sotto has become much stronger.
“Number one, I think he’s a lot stronger. He’s a lot stronger now. He’s put on some weight, some muscle,” Guiao offered in The Gilas Zone.
“He’s stronger. He’s heavier. He’s got more bulk. He’s got more muscle.”
Guiao saw that improvement in strength in Gilas’ duels with long-time rivals South Korea. There, the 7-foot-3 center matched up with the opposition’s more experienced frontcourt, led by naturalized center Ricardo Ratliffe.
The ex-PBA import, for context, led the 2019 World Cup in scoring, rebounding, and efficiency. Yet Sotto showed that he can go on par with elite-level talent. He put up 10.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the two games they met.
“I know how hard Ratliffe defends at the low post. He’s a strong guy, he’s a heavy guy, he’s had experience playing against the best big men in the world. And I think Kai Sotto [was] able to put a move or two on him,” Guiao said.
“To me, that’s a good sign. He’s also not afraid of being physical, getting physical with the best big guys Korea can offer. So to me, that’s an improvement.”
What Guiao also saw was a more confident Sotto — more confident than the younger one he saw years ago who tagged along with his father Ervin in NLEX practices to work out with the pros. Moreover, Kai also attended the practices of Gilas during the fifth window of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
“Another thing I’ve seen from Kai is that he’s more confident,” said the Road Warriors’ chief mentor. “Kai used to practice with us at NLEX. His dad was an assistant coach of mine before they went to the States.
“So, Erv Sotto used to bring his kid to practice with us just to be able to compete with pros — getting bumped and getting pushed and getting to know the ropes.
“He was practicing twice a day — he practiced with us, and he practiced with Ateneo [High School]. So I knew him those days,” the 62-year-old further recalled. “He’s a lot bigger, stronger; his handles are better.”
During those practices, Guiao already saw the potential of Sotto —especially in the outside shot. And so it didn’t surprise him when the left-handed youngster displayed those skills in Clark.
“He already could shoot the medium-range and the outside shot even back then, so I think it’s just a matter of confidence for him to be able to. I saw Ratliffe just leave him to take the outside shot, and he made it,” he said.
“So I think that’s going to be bad news for all the countries we will face with Kai there, so I’m really upbeat about the future of Kai.”
That kind of confidence allowed Sotto to post norms of 9.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 18.9 minutes in their three-game sweep of the window. That also made it an unbeaten Qualifiers run for Gilas all in all (6-0).
Guiao can only imagine what the second-generation cager could do had he spent more time with the Tab Baldwin-coached unit. After all, he only joined Gilas days before the June 16-20 tilt as he had to clear health protocols.
“We must remember, he’s been able to practice with Gilas only for a couple of days, not enough for Coach Tab and the whole team to probably get the most out of what he can offer,” he said.
“So that’s another thing on the potential side. If only he can practice with the team… Let’s say for about three or four weeks … Imagine Kai Sotto having several more weeks of practice with this team.”
