By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Kai Sotto once said that he will be forever grateful to his high school coaches, his first of the few mentors that helped shape him to what he is now.
Joe Silva and Reggie Varilla, Sotto’s first mentors during his high school stint with the Ateneo Blue Eagles, have said that they think Kai made the right decision entering the G league despite tempting offers from big-time universities in the USA.
“Going to the G League will give him the best preparation possible. And since the G League is affiliated with the NBA, all the exposure, the training, and the games he will play will be close to NBA standards,” said Silva.
With all praises and applauds to Sotto from his HS coaches, both Silva and Varilla emphasized that he still needs to hone some of the areas in his game to avoid getting bullied underneath in the G League.
“The obvious answers would have to be his power and explosiveness. He’ll need to get stronger so that NBA big men won’t overpower him. I think he needs to be more explosive so that he can fully exploit opposing bigs with his perimeter game,” said Varilla.
Varilla added that Kai should practice more on his perimeter defense, particularly on his lateral movement so that he won’t get left off and get blown by during isolation switches.
“Joining the G League is like having one foot in that NBA door. It will make it easier for all the scouts of all the teams to really gauge Kai,” Silva emphasized.
