ANGE Kouame will have his hands full in the coming weeks juggling his time playing for no less than three teams.
The naturalized player is suiting up for Meralco on Wednesday in the EASL Home and Away Season 2, changed jersey to Strong Group Athletics the following day for the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship, and then don the Gilas Pilipinas uniform by February when the national team holds a training camp in Qatar.
“Of course, I will be playing for Meralco and the next day fly to Dubai,” said Kouame, who has been juggling his time practicing with the Bolts and the SGA one after the other.
READ Ange Kouame thrilled to learn from the best at SGA practice
The Bolts are set to face the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the EASL at the Philsports Arena on Wednesday night, hoping to get the win to fortify their bid of becoming the first PBA team to qualify for the tournament’s Final Four set in Macau from March 7-9.
The former UAAP MVP out of Ateneo is the Filipino heritage import of Meralco aside from having regular reinforcements Akil Mitchell and DJ Kennedy.
Meralco is currently tied for third place with the New Taipei Kings on 2-2 records, just behind second-running Macau Black Bears (3-3).
Ryukyu is on top of Group B with a 4-1 card and already clinched the first Final Four berth in the bracket, but is looking to finish its campaign as the top team in its group.
Then the Dubai meet comes next for the 27-year-old Filipino-Ivorian, who also played for the SGA team when it won last year’s Jones Cup championship in Taipei.
The annual Dubai tournament is set from Jan. 24 to Feb. 2.
After just a week of rest, it’s off to Doha for Kouame and the rest of the Gilas Pilipinas team as it gears up for its final two games in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers against New Zealand and Chines Taipei.
The national team, which already qualified for the Asia Cup proper in Saudi Arabia this August, will play Chinese Taipei in Taiwan on Feb. 20 and then travel to Auckland to face the Tall Blacks on the 23rd.
“This is what I think the plan is going to be,” said Kouame. “For sure, those two months are going to be busy for me.”
Teased by SPIN.ph about earning lots of money playing for three different teams, Kouame shrugged his shoulders and had a big laugh.
“I hope so. I don’t know about the money part, but I hope so,” he said.
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