Baldwin wants Kai to train with Gilas – Manila Bulletin

In order for Kai Sotto to play for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA ​​Asia Cup Qualifiers and the Olympic Qualification Tournament, program director Tab Baldwin said the 7-foot-3 will need more than just showing up for both competitions. .

“He’s willing to come and I guess I’m the problem now, so to speak,” Baldwin told former PBA commissioner Noli Eala on the latter’s Power and Play show that aired on Saturday, March 27.

“My posture is the posture of a coach, and as a coach I am developing a team. So to be part of that team, you have to be integrated into that team, and to be integrated into that team, you have to train with them, “added Baldwin.

Baldwin said having Sotto train with Gilas will allow him time to familiarize himself with the schemes that will be implemented in the final window of the continental qualifiers and the OQT.

“I have conditions that say that if Kai comes back and plays for the team and doesn’t train with us, I think he will go out on the court and look bad. And I don’t think that’s fair to him, “Baldwin said, adding that such a scenario could hurt his chances in the NBA.

READ: SBP backs Kai Sotto: ‘We will support him in any way we can’

“And I don’t think that’s fair to his prospects, because no one should be fooled, the NBA coaches are watching everything Kai does. If you come back here and play, they’ll see. They will see how he performs against Korea and at the next level, the OQT.

“And for Kai to have the best experience here, he needs to be part of the training for, I would say, no less than three weeks. So this is the condition, and I’m not saying it’s three weeks. It can be four, it can be two. And we have to keep talking to Kai and his people, see what his schedule is like, and find the best solution for Kai as a basketball player and for the team.

And that’s the other side. It has to be integrated into the team or else it will detract from its performance if it does not know the systems we are running, ”concluded Baldwin.

Sotto was supposed to make his senior debut last month, a decision that reportedly forced him to skip the first few games of the Ignite in the NBA G League bubble.

But the third window of the Asian Cup Qualifiers was postponed after Doha chose to cancel its venue due to the COVID-19 condition, prompting Sotto to return to the United States and eventually skip the rest of the bubble. of the league.