MANILA, Philippines -- Kai Sotto is coming back to Gilas Pilipinas at a time when the national team needs him most.
Sotto will suit up for Gilas for the first time in two years when the Philippines faces Jordan in FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Window 4 on Friday.
With naturalized player Justin Brownlee ruled out, Sotto leads an all-Filipino squad in games Gilas must win to keep its World Cup hopes alive.
For Sotto, who spent the past year rebuilding his form in Japan after suffering an ACL injury in January 2025, the window serves as a litmus test for both himself and a Gilas team that has struggled without him.
"It's a huge pressure for us," Sotto said during Monday's pre-tournament press conference.
"That's the pressure that we need. Since the start of practice, we've been improving. And as long as we help each other and we trust each other, we'll get what we want."
Without Sotto, the Philippines has dropped four straight games -- including winnable contests against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand.
In the 13 games he has missed, Gilas has won just four.
With Sotto, however, Gilas looked like a different team.
A Sotto-anchored Philippines went 5-1 under head coach Tim Cone, who built the triangle offense around the 7-foot-3 center. Sotto averaged 14.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks during that stretch, emerging as Gilas' second-leading scorer behind Brownlee.
Brownlee averaged 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists in the qualifiers.
"We were jumping for joy that [Sotto] decided to join us," Cone said after confirming Brownlee's absence for Window 4.
"We're kind of building around [Sotto]. He's just a great addition and we're just really happy to have him back."
Gilas again needs the pre-injury version of Sotto as the Philippines is in a precarious position with a 2-4 record in Group E, sitting behind Australia, Iran, Jordan and New Zealand.
The top three teams from each group and the best fourth-place team advance to the 2027 World Cup alongside Qatar, which, as host nation, is assured of qualification.
Gilas will face Jordan on Friday before taking on Iran on Sunday.
Two victories will improve the Philippines' position heading into the final window in November, but two losses will effectively end its World Cup campaign.
Sotto will also have a familiar frontcourt partner in AJ Edu, who has known him since their days with the national youth team.
The two last shared the court for Gilas during the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila.
Notably, Edu was one of Sotto's closest confidants during his recovery from his ACL injury.
Having suffered the injury twice himself, Edu understood what Sotto was going through better than most.
"It was a huge challenge when I got injured, but I am so thankful to God for guiding me and to the people who helped me," Sotto said.
"AJ was one of them. He was someone I constantly turned to when I was injured because he had gone through the same thing."
Edu, who is expected to anchor Gilas' defense while Sotto takes on a larger role offensively, said: "We've both overcome injuries and are healthy now. Definitely excited to share the court with Kai again."
The Philippines will also lean on mainstays Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, Juan Gomez de Liano, Carl Tamayo, Scottie Thompson and CJ Perez to help fill the void left by Brownlee.
Sotto's passing, size, and ability to be the offensive hub will be invaluable with Gilas' biggest scoring threat unavailable.
But Cone is tempering expectations, saying Sotto may be familiar with the system but he has not played with this group in two years.
The veteran mentor said there would be an adjustment period as Sotto worked his way back into the flow of the team.
"I don't want to say he's new to the team, but he hasn't been with us for a couple of years so guys are still adjusting to his level of play," Cone said.
"We hope that just continues over the next few days. We think he's going to cause problems for both teams and he's going to make those around him better."