Can Kai hold the fort?

Kai Sotto will be back wearing the Gilas uniform against Jordan in a crucial fourth FIBA World Cup Asia qualifying window match at the MOA Arena tonight and with Justin Brownlee out, coach Tim Cone is banking on the 7-3 center to be the host team’s main focus on both ends of the floor. It’s a big weight on Sotto’s shoulders and fans are hoping he’ll be up to the task as Gilas battles to stay in contention for seven Asia/Oceania slots, excluding automatic host qualifier Qatar, in next year’s World Cup with six more games in three windows to play.

Sotto, 24, is the youngest on Cone’s roster but he comes with a wealth of experience from Australia, NBA summer league and four years in Japan. Kai played in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and his last game with Gilas was in November 2024 when he had 12 points and 15 rebounds against Hong Kong in the FIBA Asia qualifiers. Sotto has since been absent from Gilas duties to recover from ACL surgery but now, he’s back.

Sotto has to contend with Jordan’s size and bulk. The key Jordan bigs are 6-11 Mohammed Hussein Shaher, 36, 6-10 Ahmed Al Dwairi, 33, 6-8 Saif Al Deen Saleh, 20, 6-8 Hadi Amnar Alshami, 20 and 6-11 Faris Hucharbach, 20. The 257-pound Hussein is a six-time FIBA Asia Cup veteran and has played in two World Cups and Asian Games. Hussein’s career highs include 42 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists. In the qualifiers, he’s played sparingly, averaging 3.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and nine minutes. New Jordan coach Luis Guil might just give Hussein more exposure to use his experience against the much younger Sotto.

The only double figure scorers for Jordan in the qualifiers are naturalized Jalen Harris (27), Dwairi (12.2) and point guard Freddy Ibrahim (11.2). In the recent Jones Cup, Alshami hit 21 and Saleh, 12 against SGA so they’re potentially high scorers. Harris, 28, played 13 games for Toronto in the 2020-21 NBA season and has seen action in Italy, Canada, Puerto Rico, China and Taiwan. His career highs include 50 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and eight triples made. Ibrahim, 29, was born in Canada and played four years at D2 University of Tampa. In the qualifiers, he’s averaging 5.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists. Ibrahim hasn’t missed a free throw, knocking down 16 of 16 so not a good idea to foul him in the penalty.

The last game where Gilas and Jordan faced off was for the Asian Games gold in 2023. Gilas won, 70-60, and the only holdovers from that squad in this window are June Mar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, CJ Perez and Scottie Thompson.

Jordan is 5-1 and Gilas, 2-4 in the qualifiers. Jordan’s only loss was a 67-49 defeat to Iran with Ibrahim held to four points and Harris scoring 18, taking 32 percent of his team’s field goals. Dwairi contributed 17. Gilas’ keys to beating Jordan are locking down on Ibrahim who fuels the Falcons engine, making Harris a passer not a scorer, controlling the paint, playing a deep rotation and preserving possessions to disallow turnover points. It’ll be tough playing without Brownlee but if Gilas buckles down to work defensively and Sotto holds his own, there will be lots for the hometown fans to cheer about.