Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone looks forward to having ace center Kai Sotto back in time for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers opening window in November.

Cone has high hopes for the 7-foot-3 Sotto’s recovery timetable after undergoing surgery on his torn left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last January.

“We’ve heard that he might be back by mid-October or late October. That might be enough time to get him in the first window,” Cone said Friday night after his Barangay Ginebra squad defeated Phoenix, 119-112, in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

Sotto sustained the harrowing injury just less than four minutes into his Japan B.League club Koshigaya Alphas’ 79-77 loss to the SeaHorses Mikawa last 5 January.

Without the towering presence of the 23-year-old big man, Gilas absorbed back-to-back losses to Chinese Taipei and Australia in the third and final window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in February.

Gilas will need Sotto in its bid for a fourth straight FIBA World Cup appearance.

The Filipinos face a tall order in the first round where they are drawn with Oceania powerhouse Australia and New Zealand along with Guam in Group A.

They will play in a double round-robin, home-and-away format, where the top three teams in each of the four groups advance into the second round. The 12 teams in the second round will be divided into two groups for another round-robin play against the three teams they didn’t face in the opening round.

The top three teams in each group and the top-performing fourth placed team in the second round will qualify for the main draw running from 27 August to 12 September 2027 in Qatar.

Cone believes Sotto will boost Gilas’ chances of qualifying.

He was instrumental in Gilas’ shocking upset of world No. 6 Latvia in last year’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga as well as in beating New Zealand for the first time in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifier second window in November at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“I’ll say it, with Kai we can beat anybody. We’ve proven that. We played the No. 6 team in the world in their house and beat them. We can beat anybody if we get Kai out there back,” Cone said.

“And we’re hoping we’ll get Kai back at some point during that time.”