Ivorian-Filipino big man Ange Kouame found himself playing in front of his hometown crowd again as part of the Meralco Bolts’ EASL 2024 campaign.
Ange Kouame found himself feeling sentimental on Tuesday after Meralco Bolts won over the Macau Black Bears 97-85 to open their EASL 2024 campaign at the Mall of Asia Arena.
After all, it marked his first game back in the Philippines following Gilas Pilipinas’ Asiad tuneup against the Changwon LG Sakers in September last year at the Philsports Arena. Kouame and Gilas proceeded to win a historic gold in Hangzhou before he joined France’s UB Chartres Metropole until February this year.
Today, he’s a part of Meralco’s EASL squad as a naturalized player along with imports Allen Durham and DJ Kennedy.
“First of all, I remember before the game, it brought me back memories [playing in MOA],” Kouame told The GAME in an exclusive interview. “Yeah, it feels really warming and I really enjoy playing around our crowd.”
Meralco relied on a balanced attack against the Black Bears, with Chris Newsome scoring a team-high 18 points and Durham and Kennedy with 17 apiece. Chris Banchero chipped in 14 points, while fellow holdovers Bong Quinto and Raymond Almazan had seven markers each.
Kouame himself was solid, notching nine points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes played, along with a game-high +24 plus-minus.
“For sure, we know it was a tough team, right? So we had to adjust to it. And this is our first game together and it’s kind of a good [way] for us to get to know each other and to play with each other,” Kouame explained.
“I think it turned out to be good, positive because we see a lot of good things over the bad things. So we’re probably gonna go and emphasize on it and try to go better.”
The big man also feels comfortable in Nenad Vucinic’s system. After all, Vucinic brings in European basketball philosophy, much like Kouame’s collegiate coach Tab Baldwin. So besides the Pinoy crowd, playing for Meralco gives a sense of familiarity to the big man.
“Yeah I love it, I love it. It feels like my college days [in Ateneo] where everybody gets the ball, it’s not just one player who makes the plays and everything. And I really enjoy it, I feel like [I’m] home, man!” the 6-foot-11 big shared.
However, Kouame acknowledged that he’s not yet in peak condition. The big man continues to recover from a nagging knee injury and is not yet in full game shape for Meralco. With this, after the opener, he rated his performance and fit as a “six or seven” against the Black Bears.
Still, the Ivorian-Filipino is positive that he’ll fully recover soon, and will fit in better within the Bolts’ offense.
“Won’t say my it’s best [performance], but I tried since I just got back from injury. I tried to catch up to everybody else. I’m getting there, give me one week and I’ll be good,” said Kouame, who played through a bad knee in Strong Group’s Jones Cup title run.
Kouame will also have the golden opportunity to learn from Durham and Kennedy, two well-traveled and champion imports across Europe and Asia. Durham is a one-time Japan B.League champion with the Ryukyu Golden Kings, while Kennedy has titles in the Balkan International Basketball League and Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A.
“Yeah, you see they’re really great players. They’ve been playing all around Asia, so as much as I can get to learn tips from them in adjusting my game and stuff. Like I said, it’s getting there, day by day, I’m getting there,” he said.
‘Going to help us a lot’
Ange Kouame also received positive feedback from Meralco’s mainstays. Durham believes he will help Meralco a lot in this EASL run thanks to his size and strength in the low post.
“But that was the first game so I think he’ll get more in shape, get some good rhythm. He’s going to help us out a lot. So I think once he gets his legs, gets more in game shape, we start playing more a little bit together, I think he’s going to help us a lot,” Durham told The GAME in a quick follow-up.
“He gives us a big body down low. Outside of him, we got height but we don’t really got size. He really gives us a big body, and you know? In this type of tournament, it’s a lot of big guys…So having a player like that really helps,” added the Bolts’ resident import.
Head coach Luigi Trillo, meanwhile, called Kouame a “great attitude” and “great character” player. Like Durham, he knows Kouame will be crucial against opposing teams’ larger imports for the regional tourney.
Kouame also gives them depth in the frontline, joining Fil-Aussie Brandon Bates and Raymond Almazan according to Trillo.
“He gives us depth and he’s been with Coach Nenad in the national team for a while [in 2022]. We’re so blessed to have a guy like Ange and I just can’t speak enough about him. And he’s not yet 100 percent, his knee is not yet 100 percent. He’s not in game shape, but you saw that he was 17 minutes, plus-24,” Trillo told The GAME.
Trillo is also looking forward to Kouame getting back to shape, which will be aided by the Bolts’ strength and conditioning coach Diego Lozano.
“So at this level, this competition, we’re playing the best in Asia, he will help, right? And then I just like what I see. He’s very down to earth, he’s such a humble guy. Again, I just love what I see every day with him and I know he’s gonna grow with us,” Trillo said.
Up next for Meralco will be Ryukyu on October 16, the KBL’s Busan KCC Egis on November 13 and December 18. They will again face Ryukyu on January 22 next year, before closing out their group stage against the Taiwan P.League+ representatives New Taipei Kings on February 12.
If all goes well, then the Bolts will also play in the Final Four scheduled from March 7 to 9.
Banner image courtesy of the East Asia Super League.