STANDING TALL: Gilas Pilipinas towers over Tall Blacks

Gone are the days when Gilas Pilipinas was handicapped in terms of ceiling.

Anchored by a pair of behemoths in 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto and 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo, the Filipinos pounded the ball hard from the inside to negate New Zealand’s torrid outside shooting for a 93-89 victory in the second window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Gilas held its own in a highly physical encounter with the Tall Blacks and head coach Tim Cone found success in playing Sotto and Fajardo together for most of the game.

“We have a guy who’s 7-foot-3 and a guy who’s 6-foot-11, you know the power guy. Our intention was to play from inside to out and take advantage of those guys,” Cone said following Gilas’ third straight win in as many outings in Group B.

The host squad did most of the damage from down low, outscoring the world No. 22-ranked Kiwis, 48-16, with Gilas hitting an efficient 24-of-34 shooting clip from the area.

Sotto, who completed concussion protocols following a scary collision during his stint in the Japan B.League just days before the match, finished with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting near the basket.

The 23-year-old big man also grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out seven assists, had two steals and two blocks in an all-around outing for Gilas.

Fajardo, on the other hand, had six markers on 3-of-5 inside clip in his first appearance in the Asia Cup qualifier after missing the first window last February due to an injury.

“When June Mar and Kai were on the floor together, Kai was able to get some stuff inside,” Cone said.

“Don’t forget the seven assists that Kai had tonight. I mean amazing. He’s doing it all scoring, rebounding and assists.”

Cone had to sit Fajardo out for most of the third quarter as he opted for a quicker and more agile rotation which led to Gilas’ amazing 16-0 run that opened a double-digit lead before the end of the period — just enough separation to cushion the New Zealand’s late game run.

Still, Cone praised the chemistry between Sotto and Fajardo.

“Honestly, to me, I just love playing June Mar and Kai together. It’s so much fun watching those guys play. They have great synergy between the two of them and they look for each other and they complement each other,” he said of the duo that also did wonders last July in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia.

“I just think that the two of them work really, really hard to be successful together. You don’t see too many two power, inside guys playing the game together anymore, these days. It’s really fun to watch them play and I really enjoy it.”

New Zealand did hit an astounding 18 triples but Gilas found a way to bring down the Tall Blacks for the first time in five FIBA-sanctioned tournament meetings in eight years.

“The disappointment tonight was we did give up 18 three-point shots. And we gotta get better at defending that. But that’s something we’re probably gonna give up. They were 18-for-35, that’s incredible shooting. We had to tip our cap to them,” Cone said.

“And despite their incredible shooting, we’re still able to win the game so again give credit to our guys,” he added.

“In the first half, in the first few minutes of the game, they were shooting wide-open threes. But I felt second half, we really got out and challenged and they had to really work for those threes. We had some pretty good challenges and they still made those shots.”

Gilas also outrebounded the Tall Blacks, 44-31.

“Every time they miss, we clean the rebound up. We didn’t give second chances and we’re able to get down the floor and do something closer to the rim,” Cone said.

Gilas shoots for an outright entry to the August 2025 main draw in Saudi Arabia when it takes on Hong Kong on Sunday.