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The only member of the 16-man group of the Gilas Pilipinas men’s team who did not travel to Bahrain for this FIBA Asian Cup qualifying window was sitting on pins and needles as he watched his teammates battle Thailand for the first time.
Angelo Kouame, who is waiting for his naturalization process to advance, could only watch and cheer, watching the game on television.
“I was a bit nervous in the first quarter. It was difficult for us to close the reverse situations, but they were able to adapt immediately, so by the end of the second quarter I was already relaxed,” Kouame said.
Thailand warmed up from the center early in the game, as they held on to attacking distance after the first 10 minutes with Gilas leading 21-19. However, the young Filipino squad broke the game wide with a 32-10 second quarter and everything went smoothly from that point on with Gilas finally winning 93-61.
“At the beginning of the game, I saw them execute everything we trained for, but then they adjusted because of the pace of the game. It was about counterattacks, but they won the game, so everything is fine,” Kouame added. “I loved the defense. They moved quite fast. They were able to close against Thailand’s rotation of the ball.”
Even during his training in Calamba, Kouame knew that the possibility of joining the team in Bahrain was close to nil and Congress was not in session. However, he also knew that he could help his teammates by being there to help them prepare.
“We work on trends from Thailand,” said the 22-year-old student-athlete. “We know they played a false zone defense that turned from man to man at the end. But Coach Jong (Uichico) and Coach Tab (Baldwin) did a great job preparing us and we can say that the system really works.”
Along with his other Ateneo teammates, Kouame was crucial in helping the rest of the team understand the concepts that the coaching staff was executing under Baldwin, who is the Program Director for the Gilas Pilipinas Men’s Team but who also hopes to be of assistance. on the floor in the near future.
In 2018, as part of the Blue Eagles Ateneo, Kouame had the opportunity to experience what it is like to compete for the Philippines in the Jones Cup. Immediately after that competition, they already asked him about his openness to being a naturalized Filipino. However, at that time, he was not yet ready to commit.
“I had to ask for my mom’s approval,” Kouame said. “At first I was afraid that I would lose my Ivory Coast citizenship. So I asked my mother for permission. I wanted to see her reaction before making my decision.”
But now the 6ft 10ft center is all in.
“Who would have thought that I would become a naturalized Filipino player? I am not Filipino by blood, but I am already 100% committed. I really want to do it. I really want to be a part of it,” “he said.” Coming back. From an African country, we really don’t have opportunities. I really appreciate that people welcome me. “
Kouame also praised the performance of his Ateneo teammate Dwight Ramos, who was spectacular in the game with 20 points (7 of 7 from the field), seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
“I’m not surprised. He practiced with us last year. That’s how he introduced himself to us. He gets offensive rebounds, he can jump shots, he can shoot from the outside. He’s a really good player,” he said. said. “He sees the court well. He has great ball handling. He can push the ball very fast and he can play from 1 to 2 to 3. You can see how the game impacted. He’s also a great leader. It’s a great opportunity for me to play. As the “.
Although he is happy with his team’s performance, Kouame knows that they cannot be satisfied heading into their second game on Monday.
“As Coach Jong said, we just need to trust the process and the system,” Kouame closed. “The second game will be harder than this because they already saw each other play, but we have to keep the same mentality.”
