Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone is not fond of making excuses after a loss but he admitted that the Nationals could have performed better if only he had 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto.

Cone said not having the 22-year-old to man the paint alongside frontcourt partner June Mar Fajardo took a hit to Gilas. Sotto’s length wouldn’t only intimidate and alter opponent’s shots on the defensive end but also give the Filipinos a viable option on the offense particularly during their scoring drought.

“I don't want to make excuses but losing Kai was big for us because it just took away our depth in the frontline and forced June Mar Fajardo to have overplay his minutes,” said the veteran mentor in the aftermath of the Gilas 71-60 defeat against Brazil in the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifying tournament.

Sotto was in uniform in the contest but the coaching staff decided to not force him to play through an abdomen injury he sustained after Georgia big man Goga Bitadze fell on him while he sprawled on the floor in their last game.

The injury to Sotto came at a time when Gilas was two wins away from making it to the Paris Olympics after initially not being seen as a contender in the OQT.

“It's funny we didn't expect to be here but then when we got here we expected to win so it's very painful that we did,” said Cone whose wards completely collapsed in the third frame when they were limited to just six points.

“Obviously,  (Brazil) coming out on a 12-0 or 14-0 run to start in the third quarter was painful to watch but there's a reason why Brazil is a 12 ranked team in the world and they proved it tonight,” he added.

Japeth Aguilar started for Gilas in Sotto’s place but it was Fajardo who absorbed the full brunt of his absence after being left to fight against the physical frontline of Brazil in Bruno Caboclo and Cristiano Felicio.

Fajardo did try to carry the load with 10 points and 11 rebounds but he was exhausted in the game.

“Started strong but we just couldn't sustain it against their physicality and again we are just lacking a big and we had to overplay our frontline,” said Cone.

“I think more than any, June Mar got really tired going to battle No. 51 and 6 the two guys are ganging up on him and rotating on him. It was a tough battle for him doing it by himself,” he added.