Game on Friday
(Qatar University Sports Arena, Doha)
8:30 p.m. (Saturday 1:30 a.m. Manila time)
Qatar vs Philippines
GILAS Pilipinas looks to harness the defensive abilities of comebacking mainstays AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo as the Nationals tweak their approach sans ACL-hit center Kai Sotto.
The 6-foot-10 Mr. Edu is finally on board after missing the entire campaign in 2024 due to knee injury while the 6-foot-7 Mr. Malonzo is back after being sidelined by calf injury last April.
The two rejoined the Nationals as they left for Qatar on Thursday for their stint in the second Doha International Cup in Qatar. Coach Tim Cone’s crew kicks off its bid against the hosts no less on Friday at 8:30 p.m. (Saturday 1:30 a.m. Manila time).
“No one’s going to fill in the shoes of Kai Sotto. He’s so unique, he’s a unicorn and no one can do what he does for us so that’s not something we’re going to worry about,” Mr. Cone said in an interview on Play by Play on One Sports.
The multi-titled mentor said the team will “wait with bated breath” for the 7-foot-3 Mr. Sotto to recover from the major knee injury that he sustained while playing in Japan.
“In the meantime we just got to do a different approach. AJ Edu is going to join us for the first time. He’s a great defensive player. Jaime (Malonzo) is going to join and he’s a really good defensive wing. So we’re hoping those guys can really elevate our defense and contribute that way,” he said.
“They’re not going to make up for Kai’s (Sotto) offense and you know we still got June Mar (Fajardo) and Justin (Brownlee) and Dwight (Ramos), our guards Scottie (Thompson) and New (Chris Newsome). And the way Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao are playing in (South) Korea, they’ve lifted their games at different levels, so we’re going to expect more from them as well.”
The Doha meet will test Gilas in a grueling daily schedule against tough Middle Eastern teams — something Mr. Cone and Co. feel will be a good dry run and prep for the actual FIBA Asia Cup tournament set in August in Saudi Arabia.
After Qatar, the Nationals will duke it out with Lebanon on Saturday at 6 p.m. (11 p.m. Manila time) then Egypt on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. (Monday 1:30 a.m. Manila time).
Immediately after, the Filipino cagers will fly to Chinese Taipei and New Zealand to wrap up their slate in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Feb. 20 and 23, respectively. — Olmin Leyba
