South Sudan guard Sunday Dech is eagerly anticipating tonight’s clash with his former Adelaide teammate, Kai Sotto, and the rest of Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
Dech and Sotto played together for two seasons in National Basketball League-Australia (NBL), leading the team to a total of 23 wins across the two regular seasons. The upcoming game will allow them to share the floor once again, now that Sotto is competing in the B.League with Hiroshima.
(C) Adelaide 36ers
“We talked about it. We had all the scenarios laid out.
“Facing him would be great again. Obviously, we were teammates for two years in Adelaide. He’s one of my closest friends now, and we’ll battle it out tonight to see which team is better,” said Dech to Inquirer.net.
Both South Sudan and the Philippines are coming off painful losses against European sides. The Bright Stars fell to Serbia last night 115-8, while the host nation lost to Italy 90-83 two days ago.
Both nations are now in Group M of the classification phase. For Gilas, however, the game is crucial as they seek to revive their hopes of qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.
While Dech and Sotto are friends, do not expect either of them to do the other a favor on the court once the game starts.
“Yeah, look, we’re looking forward to it. You know, obviously, it was a bitter one last night. We couldn’t get the job done. Now we regroup, take the learnings from today, and look forward to playing Kai and Gilas tonight,” said Dech.
“I’ve watched all of his games. He’s a really close friend of mine. We talk every day, and it’s good we’re in the same hotel. So hopefully, we get to go out there tonight and get the win over him.”
