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SHOULD the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) have tried to include Kai Sotto for the Gilas Pilipinas team in the upcoming second window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers?
Without a naturalized player in tow and the Filipino team supported by guys like Isaac Go, Justine Baltazar and Kemark Carino up front, calling the 7-foot-2 center should have been a huge boost for the country’s front row.
Gilas is gearing up for a pair of games against Thailand in Group A action taking place on November 27-30 inside Bahrain’s Manama bubble.
The SBP has not yet responded Spin.phYou ask if the possibility was ever under consideration, but that really should have been a no-brainer.
Yes, securing clearances from all fronts would have been a headache, with Sotto currently training with his Ignite NBA G League team at their practice facility in Walnut Creek, California.
But nothing says the Philippines is preparing more for the future than to include the 18-year-old in any opportunity, especially with this team studded with college stars.
After all, we will almost certainly see Sotto in those Gilas threads at the 2023 Fiba World Cup here.
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Gilas shouldn’t look too far to find an example.
India included Sotto’s Ignite teammate Princepal Singh on their 12-man roster for their Group D campaign, where they will face Lebanon on November 27 and Bahrain on November 29.
Singh, 19, was the first NBA Academy India product to sign a professional contract in which he will play side by side with Sotto and other prominent US high school students such as Jalen Green, Daishen Nix and Isaiah Todd at the development league next season.
The 6-foot-10 center is touted as the future of India’s national basketball team, and gaining experience this season can only serve him and the country as they seek to rise through the ranks of the continent.
That begs the question: if India did it, why didn’t we?
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