Kai Sotto immediately signed up the moment he learned that Tim Cone will serve as full-time head coach of Gilas Pilipinas in major international competitions.
Sotto’s father, Ervin, told Daily Tribune that his son is thrilled to play for Cone in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers next week in Hong Kong and Pasig City and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament this July in Riga, Latvia.
Ervin is no stranger to the system of Cone — the winningest mentor in the Philippine Basketball Association with 25 titles.
In fact, he played for Cone at Alaska from 2008 to 2011 and was part of the squad that ruled the Fiesta Conference in 2010. But Ervin played sparingly as the Aces had a bevy of big men like Sonny Thoss, Tony dela Cruz and JR Reyes.
Aside from their connection, Cone also served as assistant coach when the younger Sotto played for Chot Reyes in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Manila. He, however, was not around when the noted American mentor called the shots in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
“If you only knew, he joined Gilas again because of Coach Tim. He’s excited to play for him because all the things I preached to him came from Coach Tim,” the elder Sotto said at the sidelines of Gilas Pilipinas’ open workout last Monday.
“Discipline and integrity are the things Coach Tim always preaches. He would tell us to make our teammates better.”
Ervin said Cone is a perfect fit to Sotto and other young players.
“Coach Tim hasn’t changed,” he said.
“He’s honest with his system and how he communicates with his players. His system benefits the team and Kai.”
Sotto made headlines when he took his sweet time before agreeing to see action in the World Cup. He showed up late and was sidelined by a back injury that he sustained in the National Basketball Association Summer League, something that didn’t sit well with Reyes and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas management.
But with Cone on board, the 21-year-old Sotto was more than willing to play and was among the first to show up for training at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna.
“We all learned a lot from Coach Tim in such a short period that we can apply in actual games,” Sotto said.
