Kai Sotto’s status for the semifinals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament-Riga 2024 is day-to-day.
The 7-foot-3 big man is currently in the nearest medical facility to Arena Riga in Latvia.
“We lost Kai Sotto early and never got him back in the game. He is in the hospital getting his rib checked,” said Gilas head coach Tim Cone moments after their 94-96 loss to Georgia.
“We don’t have any news yet on whether he will be able to continue.”
Sotto was involved in a freak accident during the second quarter of the contest.
With 6:42 left in the second quarter, Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze landed squarely on Sotto’s abdomen while he was down on the floor.
Sotto did not return to the game, finishing with four points in 11 minutes of action.
The second-generation cager was pivotal in Gilas’ 89-80 upset over Latvia earlier in the day, tallying 18 points and eight rebounds.
Against Georgia, Carl Tamayo and Japeth Aguilar stepped up.
Tamayo scored seven points on 3-of-3 shooting, while Aguilar played seven minutes, helping to lock down the Georgian bigs.
“Despite losing him, we fought our way back into the game. We had really good bench production from Carl Tamayo, CJ Perez, Kevin Quiambao, and Japeth Aguilar,” Cone said.
“Our captain (Aguilar) stepped into the void and gave us big minutes, which would have been Kai’s minutes.”
Gilas’ opponent for Saturday is still pending as of publishing time.
