Kai Sotto Thread

[JAMSKIE2]

Dylan Ababou says hi

Was Ababou that promising of a player prior to his ACL injury? I don't think so. I think Ababou's situation was somewhat similar to that of Nico Salva, Rich Alvarez, Mac Barracael. Yung mga tipong undersized & lacking in physical strength to play as a power forward while at the same time, slow & not having good enough handles to play as a natural small forward. Remember, Ababou didn't even make it to the final roster of Smart Gilas-1 under coach Rajko Toroman. Barracael at least had a decent stint with Smart Gilas-1.

As brilliant Ababou's college career was, marami naman yata tayong mga collegiate stars/superstars who became marginal players or benchwarmers in the PBA. Some had very short PBA careers. So it's not a guarantee that if you have a very good college career, you'll be able to carryover that status in the PBA. So I think Ababou's failure to make it big in the PBA could be attributed to his deficiency in skills &/or lack of size to play a specific position. He suffering an ACL injury had not much to do with it.

 

[thatweirdguy2]

I understand that sentiment. I think Kai will still be a dominant force in the Asian level for the years to come as long as he makes a full recovery.

However, NBA wise, if no team was willing to gamble on a then 21 years old prospect, young and no injury concerns. What more on a guy that already suffered a career altering injury which is an ACL tear. It just sucks. You hate it to happen on the kid who just dreamed and did nothing but to represent a whole nation behind him.

The thing is we don't know how he'll be after this injury or how long he'll be out. Recovery is case to case basis, Hoping for the best but being out for a long time is a real downer for a basketball player's career especially for someone who's trying to make the NBA..

 

[ARMIR2]

The thing is we don't know how he'll be after this injury or how long he'll be out. Recovery is case to case basis, Hoping for the best but being out for a long time is a real downer for a basketball player's career especially for someone who's trying to make the NBA..

He won't make it this year for sure,so the target of him being in peak by 24 to 26 will come true then,he could make the NBA then.

 

[Metta2]

Ruptured and torn ACL is the same thing, just semantics. A lot of medical/surgical advancements has made ACL injuries not as devastating as before. Just a quick search will show that most NBA players who had ACL tears came back just as good. Exceptions are those complicated with age and some are really injury-prone. ACL by itself is not career-threatening.

What happened to Kai is a "giraffe fall."

It's something extremely tall players are susceptible to. Wemby slipped and contorted his leg far worse but he avoided injury. I've posted earlier on things that Wemby works on to avoid injuries. The best prevention is to "bullet-proof" your body (especially lower extremities) as much as possible. Rather than avoiding getting hit (avoiding contact, using athleticism to the fullest) strengthen the body instead, because getting hit is inevitable.

 

[FilWelsh2]

He won't make it this year for sure,so the target of him being in peak by 24 to 26 will come true then,he could make the NBA then.

Still believing him making into NBA? huh…. I am impressed with your conviction. Let’s sing to Kai, don’t stop believing

 

[Metta2]

Smells like someone wants to make the Kai thread become a cesspool again.

 

[Thegloryball2]

With a more advance and never ending development of medical science and technology each and every year, an acl injury to an athlete is becoming more less of a concern when you compared it 10yrs ago or more. That is why I'm confident that we will see again how kai used to play. I thinks it's more on his mental aspect on how he will recover and get back his confidence.

 

[JAMSKIE2]

Ruptured and torn ACL is the same thing, just semantics. A lot of medical/surgical advancements has made ACL injuries not as devastating as before. Just a quick search will show that most NBA players who had ACL tears came back just as good. Exceptions are those complicated with age and some are really injury-prone. ACL by itself is not career-threatening.

What happened to Kai is a "giraffe fall."

It's something extremely tall players are susceptible to. Wemby slipped and contorted his leg far worse but he avoided injury. I've posted earlier on things that Wemby works on to avoid injuries. The best prevention is to "bullet-proof" your body (especially lower extremities) as much as possible. Rather than avoiding getting hit (avoiding contact, using athleticism to the fullest) strengthen the body instead, because getting hit is inevitable.

Great points bro & I very much agree with you.

I've once read an article about what happened to NBA players who suffered ACL injuries. The article states that more than 80% of NBA players were/are able to continue their NBA careers post-ACL injuries & most were/are still the same player from pre-ACL injury as there was/is hardly any deterioration of their respective games post-ACL injury.

So one may ask, what happened to those less than 20% ACL victims who were not able to come back to the NBA after recovering from their ACL injuries? Did their basketball career end after the injury? I think most of them (if not all) were able to contunue with their basketball careers post-ACL injuries, is just that most of them are/were just averaged or marginal NBA players in which their respective NBA teams can easily replace them with younger & uninjured players. What I mean is that, there's just too many basketball talents in the US that if one player is just an averaged or marginal player, there are too many players out there who can easily take his spots.

For instance, an averaged NBA player who is already 29 years old suffers an ACL tear, chances are, hindi na sya kukunin ng NBA team nya because there are just too many good basketball players out there who are younger & injury free that an NBA team can recruit to serve as replacements. Now, things would be different when a NBA player hit by an ACL injury is a star or superstar. Chances are, makakabalik talaga sa NBA ang ganoong caliber na player.

 

[Metta2]

Great points bro & I very much agree with you.

I've once read an article about what happened to NBA players who suffered ACL injuries. The article states that more than 80% of NBA players were/are able to continue their NBA careers post-ACL injuries & most were/are still the same player from pre-ACL injury as there was/is hardly any deterioration of their respective games post-ACL injury.

So one may ask, what happened to those less than 20% ACL victims who were not able to come back to the NBA after recovering from their ACL injuries? Did their basketball career end after the injury? I think most of them (if not all) were able to contunue with their basketball careers post-ACL injuries, is just that most of them are/were just averaged or marginal NBA players in which their respective NBA teams can easily replace them with younger & uninjured players. What I mean is that, there's just too many basketball talents in the US that if one player is just an averaged or marginal player, there are too many players out there who can easily take his spots.

For instance, an averaged NBA player who is already 29 years old suffers an ACL tear, chances are, hindi na sya kukunin ng NBA team nya because there are just too many good basketball players out there who are younger & injury free that an NBA team can recruit to serve as replacements. Now, things would be different when a NBA player hit by an ACL injury is a star or superstar. Chances are, makakabalik talaga sa NBA ang ganoong caliber na player.

A thing to consider also is...a player may really be injury prone. And if a player is injury prone, it's highly likely that he will suffer an ACL injury. But it doesn't mean that the ACL injury was the cause of his deterioration, he was injury-prone to begin with (and that was the red flag for the teams). That's why I mentioned, ACL by itself is not career-threatening. Factors such as age is also considerable, any serious injury during late stages of a career will obviously be more impactful (yes, teams will be more hesitant to get older players who had a serious injury).

Some guys who suffered ACL while young and looked just as strong after recovery are Zach Lavine, Mark Jackson and locally I believe Clint Escamis also suffered one early on.

There's a whole recent study made by Stanford University on the subject. For those not inclined to read it, basically they say it's more likely one can come back just the same after an ACL injury.

 

[JAMSKIE2]

Now that Kai Sotto is out of competitive basketball as he is recovering from an ACL injury, I hope he can really work on his medium range shooting. From what I saw on Kai's games, may it be during his stint in Australia, B-league Japan & his stints with Gilas, Kai seems to have some touch from mid-range. He just needs the reps & more training to really polish it to become such a deadly weapon. A 7-foot-2 big guy with a deadly medium range soft jumper would always be a lethal weapon. Kai having a reliable mid-range jumper would make him an even more potent offensive player.

I hardly saw Hamed Haddadi taking & making medium range jumpers. Neither did I see 7 foot center Ahmad Al Dwairi taking mid-range shots.

 

[ARMIR2]

Now that Kai Sotto is out of competitive basketball as he is recovering from an ACL injury, I hope he can really work on his medium range shooting. From what I saw on Kai's games, may it be during his stint in Australia, B-league Japan & his stints with Gilas, Kai seems to have some touch from mid-range. He just needs the reps & more training to really polish it to become such a deadly weapon. A 7-foot-2 big guy with a deadly medium range soft jumper would always be a lethal weapon. Kai having a reliable mid-range jumper would make him an even more potent offensive player.

I hardly saw Hamed Haddadi taking & making medium range jumpers. Neither did I see 7 foot center Ahmad Al Dwairi taking mid-range shots.

He takes the shot rarely,only when open,he got block alot,its that slow shots,but when open he can hit it within the 15 foot range.

 

[JAMSKIE2]

He takes the shot rarely,only when open,he got block alot,its that slow shots,but when open he can hit it within the 15 foot range.

I think Kai's height would make it difficult for his defender to block his medium range soft jumper, especially in Asia-Oceania basketball in which there aren't so many 7 foot centers. If Kai's defender is only 6-foot-10 or 6-foot-9, which is the height of most Asian centers, then Kai enjoys 4 to 5 inches height advantage. Also Kai's ability to dribble drive would make his defender apprehensive in getting too close to him in the perimeter for the fear of getting blown by.

 

[thatweirdguy2]

I think Kai's height would make it difficult for his defender to block his medium range soft jumper, especially in Asia-Oceania basketball in which there aren't so many 7 foot centers. If Kai's defender is only 6-foot-10 or 6-foot-9, which is the height of most Asian centers, then Kai enjoys 4 to 5 inches height advantage. Also Kai's ability to dribble drive would make his defender apprehensive in getting too close to him in the perimeter for the fear of getting blown by.

Saw him taking some of those open shots. He was still hesitant and got a really slow release. I dunno why but most of our players are almost always hesitating when they are free to shoot jumpers it's annoying

 

[JAMSKIE2]

Saw him taking some of those open shots. He was still hesitant and got a really slow release. I dunno why but most of our players are almost always hesitating when they are free to shoot jumpers it's annoying

Gone are the days when our big men would always take open shots from 15 to 18 feet. And we had a lot of PBA big men before who are dead shot from mid-range - Alvin Patrimonio, Vic Pablo, Jun Limpot, Dennis Espino, Benjie Paras, Jerry Codinera, Bong Hawkins, Don Allado.

I think even former Gilas natiralized player Marcus Douthit likes to take medium range shots, especially during his stint with Gilas-1.

I think Kai has a good medium range game, he just have to really polish it & have confidence taking it during actual games.

 

[ARMIR2]

I think Kai's height would make it difficult for his defender to block his medium range soft jumper, especially in Asia-Oceania basketball in which there aren't so many 7 foot centers. If Kai's defender is only 6-foot-10 or 6-foot-9, which is the height of most Asian centers, then Kai enjoys 4 to 5 inches height advantage. Also Kai's ability to dribble drive would make his defender apprehensive in getting too close to him in the perimeter for the fear of getting blown by.

If you noticed he doesn't jump high when taking shots or trying to block shots in the perimeter,as any tall guys they're too wary of landing akwardly,that's why he doesn't take those midrange shots if there's a guy in front of him,but when he's open he takes it and I think he has like 60% or higher chance of making it.Looking at him right now it looks like he packed alot of weight,let's see if that slows him down more or maybe he lose some of it once he's active again.

 

[BJ_Reloaded2]

having a former professional basketball player father is really an advantage to Kai as part of his core group.

gone are the days that players who undergone a major operation will take several months before he/she could do his/her usual gym works.

the benefits of the modern day medical treatment and it's procedures.

good thing he is still in his heyday and the metabolism is at it's peak thus a quick recovery is inevitable, that's part of the physical healing

because the crucial part is the mental thing and Ervin Sotto's fatherly advice is very very important to overcome the tentaviness and regain the lad's confidence to the game.

matapang at malakas din ang loob ng bata trans. no guts no glory....no pain no gain.

 

[paolylo2]

Still believing him making into NBA? huh…. I am impressed with your conviction. Let’s sing to Kai, don’t stop believing

I made my assessment way before that if he's not NBA-ready by 23, there's no way he's making the NBA... that's in a few months when he still needs to be walking properly with a graft from one of his legs for a new ligament before rehab and regaining his fitness.

Despite the massive improvement in his game before the ACL injury, it's really about an NBA team's needs vs their willingness to open a roster spot to a soon-to-be-24-year-old Asian big as opposed to the depth of potential draft picks and maybe even G-League players who will be 3-5 years younger than Kai with better skill sets more suitable to the NBA game.

Also, I still couldn't wrap my head around the botch that EW Private did to his G-League Ignite stint and those carousel of agents and agencies who went on the record about NBA team interests (pero workout lang binigay). Then you got them DDS-types who happen to suck Kai's nuts at the time and issued death threats to Aussie sportswriters for their sarcasm. That's too much drama for an NBA team to handle over a guy just trying to make the league.

 

[thatweirdguy2]

I made my assessment way before that if he's not NBA-ready by 23, there's no way he's making the NBA... that's in a few months when he still needs to be walking properly with a graft from one of his legs for a new ligament before rehab and regaining his fitness.

Despite the massive improvement in his game before the ACL injury, it's really about an NBA team's needs vs their willingness to open a roster spot to a soon-to-be-24-year-old Asian big as opposed to the depth of potential draft picks and maybe even G-League players who will be 3-5 years younger than Kai with better skill sets more suitable to the NBA game.

Also, I still couldn't wrap my head around the botch that EW Private did to his G-League Ignite stint and those carousel of agents and agencies who went on the record about NBA team interests (pero workout lang binigay). Then you got them DDS-types who happen to suck Kai's nuts at the time and issued death threats to Aussie sportswriters for their sarcasm. That's too much drama for an NBA team to handle over a guy just trying to make the league.

I remember Dusty Hannahs and all the Adelaide guards getting eviscerated online for not passing the ball enough lol. Up until now I can still read peezone like comments in the NBL, Magic, Blazers pages..

Whatever happened to Kaiju Academy? It was supposed to be a big thing now I can't even search the website anymore

 

[JAMSKIE2]

I think with the ACL injury that Kai Sotto is now recovering from, people's expectation of Kai making it to the NBA has significantly diminished. Of course rational fans want to remain optimistic but their very rationale is the one that makes them realistic about Kai's real chance of making it to the NBA, and that chance isn't as good as it was pre-injury.

 

[paolylo2]

I remember Dusty Hannahs and all the Adelaide guards getting eviscerated online for not passing the ball enough lol. Up until now I can still read peezone like comments in the NBL, Magic, Blazers pages..

Whatever happened to Kaiju Academy? It was supposed to be a big thing now I can't even search the website anymore

Spooky Nook Sports Hamilton has its own website... it's definitely one of those businesses that the Sotto's might or might not have invested in, but Kai's handlers were talking about it before as if they built the whole place so that they can have their own academy. Hashtag congrats kabayan. Hashtag future Filipino big men.

While I hate Filipinos living vicariously through their hoop heroes, volleyball hereos, BINI, etc when they shouldn't be anything more than inspiration... unfortunately, we still believe in "walang basagan ng trip" which is reserved for nerds who have never been punched in the face because they can't distinguish "passionate support" from "utak-squatter".

I think with the ACL injury that Kai Sotto is now recovering from, people's expectation of Kai making it to the NBA has significantly diminished. Of course rational fans want to remain optimistic but their very rationale is the one that makes them realistic about Kai's real chance of making it to the NBA, and that chance isn't as good as it was pre-injury.

He'll make it to the NBA as consuelo de D.E.I. Ipon muna siya pera para may baon for those non-guaranteed G-League contracts which is still like PBA import money. What do I know? He might come back as the 2nd coming of Hakeem Olajuwon and Jokic lol.