It's now time for Kai to silence his critics, as he finds himself on a grand stage where everyone is watching. This presents his chance to demonstrate to the world that he deserves a spot in the NBA. Kai Sotto hasn't performed well in the last three tune-up games. If he manages to score at least 20 points here, I believe that would be a significant accomplishment for him. Particularly noteworthy would be if he plays an effective role in limiting KAT.
Unfortunately, when Kai is on the defensive end, Karl Anthony Towns is taking that advantage to eat the young guy alive on the paint. In the end, Coach Chot decided to sit him almost the entire game, unlike in those previous tune-up games where Kai was getting more minutes and that was a good decision for me. Having JuneMar Fajardo and AJ Edu as the center brings more effectiveness to both Gilas' offense and defense.
Looking at how the Gilas performed on that night, it wasn't bad overall, especially against the ranked 23rd Dominican Republic. We are not even down as much as over 10 to 20 points contrary to what the majority is expecting knowing Towns is really a big factor. He's even gone berserk in the second half attacking the paint mostly on his plays but still, Gilas is able to keep it up with the scoreboard.
Take note that, Jordan Clarkson even fouled out only at the 3rd but still, the locals were able to play close with the Dominicans.
Not sure if you watch the game Clarkson was fouled out in the last 4minutes or something of the game and not in the 3rd, but I like your comment about keeping the gap close by using both Edu and JFM but giving the kid less than 2 minutes? Not sure if that's the right calculation to complete the assessment if the player is fit to his position.
It's done and we don't have anything to bring it back. Hopefully, the coaching staff will find the best way to win on their next game,
almost but Dominican Republic survived.
