KAI Sotto left Gilas Pilipinas’ perfect fourth window with renewed confidence in the team’s young core.
The 7-foot-3 center reunited with former youth teammates AJ Edu and Carl Tamayo at the senior level, while also sharing the floor with Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao and Juan Gomez de Liaño as the Philippines secured back-to-back wins over Jordan and Iran.
For Sotto, playing alongside the next generation of Gilas stars is a major reason to be optimistic about the program’s future.
“I’m just very blessed to be part of this team,” Sotto said. “I think this young core we have, I think it gives me confidence when it comes to the future.”
Sotto specifically pointed to the group that he believes can carry the national team forward.
“Me, Carl, Dwight, AJ, KQ, Juan—these are young guys who have a really bright future for the national team,” Sotto said.
The fourth window also presented a major challenge for the young core, particularly with Justin Brownlee unavailable.
Sotto said the absence of the longtime naturalized star meant the responsibility fell on the rest of the team to step up.
“I think this window was a big challenge for us without Justin. It was on us to take that bigger step,” he said.
That meant helping one another, taking greater responsibility and finding ways to improve throughout the two-game window.
“We have to help each other. We have to play better. We have to own that we have that big responsibility for this team,” Kai said.
Gilas responded by overcoming an 18-point deficit against Jordan before holding off Iran, completing a sweep that moved the Philippines to 4-4 in the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
For Sotto, the results were a reflection of the entire group rather than any single player.
“I think everybody stepped up and I’m proud of the guys. I’m just very happy we got these two wins,” he said. (Jesus Nathaniel Valdez)
