Debuting Kai Sotto earns high remarks from Gilas coach Tab Baldwin

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin has nothing but praises for Kai Sotto who made his seniors' team debut in the final window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Wednesday.

The prized mentor admitted that they had a hard time matching the physicality and intensity of the Koreans, especially in the first half which ended with the Filipinos trailing, 36-44.

But with the 7-foot-3 Sotto manning the middle, the Filipinos were able to survive.

"I think what we saw from Kai is a very young player that wasn't really well-prepared but what a heart he has," Baldwin said.

"[Korea's] defense was very, very physical and we weren't ready for that. You can try to be as physical as you want in practice, and we did, but it's not like playing games," the coach added.

Baldwin said it was apparent that Sotto, who recently signed with Adelaide 36ers in the NBL, was having difficulty in his match-up with the more experienced big man of South Korea, Ricardo Ratliffe.

But as the game went along, Sotto quickly found his groove that led to him getting 11 points along with seven boards and two assists in Gilas' 81-78 triumph.

"First couple of times he tried to score and he could have easily called a foul. He was very disrupted by the physicality of Ratliffe. What you saw was him making an adjustment," Baldwin, a three-time UAAP champion coach, said.

"But most importantly, you saw the determination in Kai to make an impact in the game," he added.

Sotto's mettle will be tested again when the nationals face Indonesia on Friday and Korea once more on Sunday.

Baldwin said Sotto still has a lot more to show in their future games.

"You can see the fatigue, you know, he's only good for three to four minutes, he gets tired. So I think it's a really courageous effort by Kai, but we're going to see a lot better basketball from him as we move forward," he said.

—MGP, GMA News