Brownlee sees Kai Sotto thriving under Cone's triangle
At A Glance
- Justin Brownlee is seeing young big man Kai Sotto thriving under the system of Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone.
Justin Brownlee is seeing young big man Kai Sotto thriving under the system of Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone.
With barely half a month of exposure to Cone’s signature triangle offense, the 7-foot-3 center was already looking comfortable in the system and Brownlee believes he could only get better from hereon.
“So far, he looks great in it. We’re always looking for him at that post area because he just has a great advantage over anybody who’s there unless they’re going to be above 7 feet,” Brownlee said of Sotto.
“We’re always looking for him and we got confidence that he can make plays in that area. In the triangle system, you can make a lot of plays,” he added.
The 21-year-old appeared to be one of the focal points of Gilas offense and defense in the two games under Cone's tutelage. He averaged 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 blocks in 22 minutes of play.
His performance was a far cry from his World Cup showing where he averaged just 6.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.8 blocks in 14.2 minutes of playing time through five games.
Actually, Sotto also improved against his Asian opponents after only averaging 13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 3.3 blocks in four games in the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Brownlee sees Sotto becoming Gilas’ biggest asset in the years to come as he can do a lot of things under Cone’s triangle.
Naturally, big men of Sotto's skillset thrive under the triangle with PBA players like Bong Hawkins, Sonny Thoss, and even Gilas veteran Japeth Aguilar all carving out a career playing for Cone's patented system.
“Of course, in the paint, he’s 7’3 or 7’2, I’m not sure, but they have to guard him. As a big man, he can pass very well. He’s got good vision,” Brownlee said of Sotto.
He was one of the recipients of Sotto’s assist passes – none more beautiful than the big man’s drop off pass in a give-and-go play that resulted in a thunderous Brownlee one-hand flush.
“On that one play you’re talking about, it was an unbelievable pass because I didn’t expect it at first. But it was there and I caught it and I finished the play,” Brownlee recalled.