A lot more to give

Kai Sotto scores on a dunk against the Dominican Republic, while Tab Baldwin (photo below) wants his young crew to be committed for the long haul. —PHOTOS COURTESY OF FIBA.COM

Kai Sotto has just five games of top-caliber international experience under his belt, yet the 7-foot-3 teen prodigy swears that he has learned a lot in that short amount of time with Gilas Pilipinas.

And he believes that this is also true with his teammates.

“I believe in this team. I believe in this coaching staff. So you can expect us to be better—and we will,” said Sotto in an interview on the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) website recently. “The Fiba Basketball World Cup 2023 is our main goal, and this team is the development team for the future.

“Everybody sees that we are very young and many of these players will be on the roster for that time. Therefore, I believe everybody will keep working hard and get better until then,” he added.

There were also a lot of others who showed worth wearing the national tricolors, with Dwight Ramos, 22, proving to be the steadiest hand during the Asia Cup Qualifiers. SJ Belangel, 22, and RJ Abarrientos, 21, also stamped their marks in the final window of the games.

Built to last?

Meanwhile, Sotto, 19, and newly minted naturalized big man Ange Kouame, 23, Jordan Heading, the bunch’s eldest at 25, made good account of themselves against top-flight teams in the OQT in Belgrade.

If only this team can stay together for the tournament it was built for, then the signs are indeed encouraging.

Head coach and program director Tab Baldwin said in a previous interview that there are no safeguards in place ensuring these young wards won’t be bothered by collegiate commitments and pro plans.

“You know as well as I do that there are so many vested interests here in the Philippines in terms of basketball that it’s very difficult to get players to be allowed to be committed to only one element of the basketball landscape—whether that be the national team, the (Philippine Basketball Association), the (University Athletic Association of the Philippines), the (National Collegiate Association of the Philippines), even UAAP high school,” he said.

Sharing the talent

Making up Baldwin’s Gilas talent pool are collegiate standouts and nine PBA rookies loaned by way of the league’s partnership with the national federation. Reinforcing that crop of youngsters are some pros who have opted to ply their wares overseas: Sotto, Thirdy Ravena, and just recently, brothers Juan and Javi Gomez de Liaño.

And then there’s athletic forward Kobe Paras, who has returned to the United States for training, and 6-foot-10 big man AJ Edu who is playing Division 1 basketball for the University of Toledo.

“[Y]ou have to remember that every PBA team wants to win, every UAAP and NCAA team wants to win,” Baldwin added. “We are sharing some of the best players so we have to be considerate of their goals and their aspirations.

For now, Baldwin could only hope that cooperation and consideration from all quarters, and be prepared for any contingency.

“We have to be prepared to dance a little bit, we have to be prepared to experience some disappointment and have plan Bs ready to go when it’s necessary,” he said. INQ