One of the points of discussion when Tab Baldwin was a guest on Erik Menk’s Staying Major podcast was Kai Sotto. At the heat of the discussion, Baldwin opined that the 7-foot-1 high school standout will be better off in Europe than in the United States.
“I wouldn’t like to see the U.S. involved until the NBA comes knocking, which I think the potential is there for that.
“I’d would like to see him kept here, but kept here under a very strict training regime which is bringing in outside influences and teaching him the game with European coaches, some American coaches that work on the body and skill-development. All of that is good. I’d like to see him stay. But if did end up going outside, I’d like to see him go to Europe if that were the option,” Baldwin said.
Last Wednesday, Tiebreaker Times broke the development that a FIBA-accredited agent has numerous offers for Sotto to play in Europe — including legendary club team Real Madrid. With those offers on the table, it’s about high time for the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and Ateneo de Manila University to put up a better-suited program for the once-in-a-generation talent.
“I want Kai to stay.
“I want him to stay in the Philippines. I want us to create a program that he and his family can realize that everything that he needs in terms of his development, he can get here,” said the world-renowned tactician. “I think that will be a great exercise for us to go through is to understand how we can devote ourselves to special players for their careers and they can get that here.
“I’d love to be a part of that for him, but the important thing is we make the effort to do that.”
Being a world traveler, Baldwin has experienced the lows of being alone overseas. Being just 16 years old, Sotto will miss his family and friends back home if he does leave.
“Look, there’s gonna be resources required for this. The European teams, if they get him, are gonna put huge resources in him. We shouldn’t think that we can just do it because we’re friends or because he’s Filipino,” opined the former Gilas Pilipinas tactician. “It will take resources and part of those resources should be dedicated to bringing foreign expertise to work with him and part of the year, when he has breaks from school ideally, he can spend some of that time with European teams and get the experience there. I don’t think we should be restricting ourselves in what we look at in terms of what’s best for his development.
“But I think one thing we know is Kai is through and through a Filipino. He’s gonna be happiest at home, he’s gonna be among friends and seemingly, he wants to put the effort and energy into this.
“I can tell, I’ve spent half of my life outside United States, I can tell you when you leave your home, when you leave your country, it isn’t always a bed of roses. Sometimes you miss home a lot. Sometimes whatever your goals and dreams are seem to become secondary to the fact that you just want to be home. You just want to be with the ones that love you and the ones you love. He can stay here and we can provide that for him and we can provide the development program, then he never has to feel that,” reflected Baldwin, who has coached in Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Baldwin has always been a student of the European game. Besides the style, he is also an advocate of its culture.
For him, the building of a suited environment for Sotto begins with the culture.
“I think he has a lot of potential. But it’s really foolish to label young players anything. Unfortunately in the Philippines, we are tied to this hero mentality and it’s not healthy.
“I don’t think it’s healthy for the people who express that either, as well as the targets of it. There’s a lot of things that if they’re gonna change, is gonna take a long time and some things simply aren’t gonna change,” he lamented. “But I don’t think it’s good for Kai when people talk about him that way.
“Big men have long lifespans in basketball and some of their best years are in their thirty’s. We’re still fifteen years away from that. I think if we’re expecting a lot from him, that’s gonna be foolish. I hope we don’t,” he closed.
