If you have not heard, Kai Sotto and the G-League Ignite team just conducted their first game and Kai ended up with 5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1/5 FG.
Let us not sugarcoat it. Kai's numbers were not that good. But not that bad also because he did not play that much.
When coach Brian Shaw was asked about his tallest player, he started with this.
You can see his skillset, his IQ. He does a lot of good things out there on the court. You can’t really judge him by how many points he gets here and there.
And ended with this.
He is getting stronger and getting better understanding. He’s improving and I’m really, really impressed with his skillset for a guy his size.
At first, Filipinos should be happy that the coach of Kai just praised him. But if you think about it, there is nothing to be happy about with what coach Brian just said.
First, there is nothing new with what he said. All of those things have been said about Kai for the entire 2020! I will argue that it is not a good thing that his biggest selling point of having skills beyond his size remained a theory and without consistent deployment inside the court.
Also, Brian is indirectly saying that Kai is still not good enough. What I am afraid though is that, he is implying that Kai is not still there even at the G League level.
If his biggest selling point is nowhere to be found when we watch him play in the G League and his overall skill level is not even on the G League level, the dream of having a full-blooded Filipino drafted in the PBA may still be a pipe-dream in 2021.
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