TOO MANY TALL PLAYERS, A GOOD PROBLEM FOR GILAS

THE return of 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto from injury and the recent addition of 6-foot-10 Quentin Millora-Brown give Gilas Pilipinas a towering front court heading to the Philippines’ home games in the second window of FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.

The two young giants join resident Gilas Pilipinas slotman June Mar Fajardo and Filipino Cypriot AJ Edu, both 6-foot-10, in the pool.

National coach Tim Cone described the surplus of big men in the training pool as a “good problem.”

“Good problem to have, right? When was the last time we had four players over 6’10” who are all talented with skills on the national team,” Cone told The Manila Times.

Cone said all four big men are “unselfish” players and will surely play whatever roles assigned to them.

“They are all great guys and unselfish and will play any role necessary for the team to win, so that makes it easy,” said the 68-year-old Cone. “We’ll figure it out.”

Sotto, Edu and Millora-Brown, who known by his initials QMB, represent the future of the Gilas Pilipinas program.

Fajardo, now 36, has been playing for the national team since 2013. He knows that his playing years for the Philippine team are numbered. But for this window, the team needs the services of the nine-time PBA Most Valuable Player.

Size-wise, the Philippines has the potential to dominate the paint, especially when it faces New Zealand in the first of its two homes games at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

The Philippines opened the Asian Qualifiers by scoring two lopsided wins against Guam — an 87-46 rout in an away game, followed by a 95-72 triumph at home last December.

On the other hand, the Tall Blacks weren’t too fortunate in their first round match up with the Australia Boomers after falling short, 84-79, in Australia followed by a heartbreaking 79-77 loss in Wellington.

The Philippines and Australia lead Group A with identical 2-0 records.

New Zealand, given its winless start in the Asian Qualifiers, is expected to strike back hard and go all out for a win against the Philippines.

The Filipinos hope to replicate their historic 93-89 triumph against the Tall Blacks in November 2024 during the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.

That marked the Philippines’ first victory against New Zealand in a FIBA tournament.

The Philippines, from there, lost its last two games against New Zealand, an 84-76 decision in the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2025.

The Tall Blacks also posted an 87-70 victory over the Filipinos in Wellington at the close of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.

2026-02-06T16:14:46Z