Gilas' Preparation for Clark Bubble Continues With or Without Kai Sotto

Kai Sotto is indeed playing inside a bubble. It may not just be the bubble Filipinos are hoping to see him play in.

Sotto's Team Ignite in the  National Basketball Association (NBA) G-League is set to enter the Orlando bubble for the 2021 season of the G-League which is set to open on February 8. The Orlando bubble inside Walt Disney World also hosted the NBA bubble last year to complete the 2019-2020 season. If Kai Sotto is indeed playing inside the Orlando bubble starting February, it will have an impact on Gilas Pilipinas'  preparations for the upcoming third window of the 2021 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifiers which are set to be played inside the Clark bubble which is also happening this February.

In a short chat with pinoyliga.com, Gilas Pilipinas Head Coach Jong Uichico admitted, "It would have been good if Kai could make it on time for the start of the practices," Eventually, the nine-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) champion coach agreed that knowing Kai Sotto's possible unavailability for the Clark bubble allows the team to move forward with the preparations. "At least, we know this early that he won't be able to make it so that we can start our preparations knowing what we have," 

Gilas Pilipinas, under Coach Jong Uichico, was coming off a successful stint in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers inside the Bahrain bubble where they won back-to-back games against Thailand. For the third window, the Filipinos are set to play two games against Korea and one game against Indonesia. Gilas just needs one more win to book a berth in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup. 

Photo is from the Manila Times