Kai Sotto carries hot hands from FIBA to Japan with a pair of dominant outings
Kai Sotto picked up where he left off from a convincing FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers campaign and rode on his hot hands upon returning to his club Koshigaya Alphas in the Japan B. League. After a dominant outing that steered the Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team to

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Kai Sotto picked up where he left off from a convincing FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers campaign and rode on his hot hands upon returning to his club Koshigaya Alphas in the Japan B. League.
After a dominant outing that steered the Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team to their first-ever FIBA win against New Zealand, Sotto kept his steady play and led Koshigaya to a 1-1 record over the weekend.
Sotto and the Alphas faced the Fighting Eagles Nagoya twice and leveled their duel with a 1-1 win-loss outing. In their first encounter last Saturday, Koshigaya crumbled and dropped a tightly-contested battle, 94-90.
Despite the sorry loss, Sotto was firing on all cylinders and proved his worth as the club’s Asian import with a dominant stat line of 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal.
Sotto was on fire from the get-go and bullied his way underneath, relying on his length and improved footwork to outsmart the quick frontcourt defenders of Nagoya.
The Gilas Pilipinas center nearly tallied a perfect shooting from the field but missed his second-to-the-last attempt with an efficient 7/8 offensive rating.
Eager to get back at Nagoya, Sotto doubled his efforts inside the hardwood and led the Alphas to a lopsided 101-71 revenge win.
Sotto registered a more flawless stat line of 24 points, 13 rebounds, three dimes, two steals, and a rejection to help the Alphas avoid a disappointing sweep.
From a paint-oriented offense in their first game, Sotto mixed things up during their rematch and shot more attempts from the outside, including the three-point line.
Also, Sotto fished early fouls that put the Nagoya frontcourt pool in foul trouble which resulted in a forced lineup tweak from the opposition’s head coach.
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