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Kai Sotto missed the entire second half of Gilas Philippines’ narrow loss to Georgia with a suspected rib injury
MANILA, Philippines – Kai Sotto’s participation in the remaining games of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia is the biggest concern for Gilas Pilipinas due to a suspected rib injury.
The 7-foot-3 big man was injured in the second quarter of the Philippines game. 96-94 loss On Thursday, July 4, Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze pinned him, and he was subsequently sent to Georgia.
Soto was immediately replaced, never returned, and was taken to the hospital after the game.
“He’s at the hospital getting his ribs checked out, he’s getting X-rays done. We don’t have any news at this point and we don’t know if he’ll be able to play,” head coach Tim Cohen said of Soto in his postgame press conference.
Soto had four points and two blocks in 12 minutes of play before the collision, after which he lay on the ground in agony.
Even without Soto, the Filipinos fought back from a 20-point deficit and although they failed to win, they still achieved their quotient goal of losing by no more than 18 points and advanced to the crossover semifinals.
Cohen’s bench also made timely contributions, with Carl Tamayo scoring seven points and Japeth Aguilar adding two points, four rebounds and two assists.
“(They) really filled in the gaps and gave us a lot of minutes that would have been Kai’s minutes. We were able to keep the gap open,” Cohen said.
However, Sotto’s return is crucial for the Philippines as they will face the top seeds of Group B, which consists of Brazil, Montenegro and Cameroon, in the crossover semifinals on Saturday, July 6.
Sotto stands out at Nationals 89-80 upset The Latvian team, ranked sixth in the world, scored 18 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block. – Rappler.com
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