Ange Kouame Feels At Home Playing For The Bolts

Ange Kouame knows how passionate Filipinos are when it comes to basketball. This is why he find himself nostalgic and emotional last 2 October after his team, Meralco Bolts, won over the Macau Black Bears 97-85 to open their EASL 2024 campaign at the Mall of Asia Arena.

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.

"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.