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KARIM ABDUL appeared to have some penchant for the no. 2 lately.
In his second season with the University of Santo Tomas, the Cameroonian center finished second in rebounds, steals, and block shots in steering the Tigers to a second place finish in the recent UAAP men’s basketball finals.
The stellar showing saw Abdul finished second in the MVP race behind Bobby Ray Parks of National University, who took home the top individual award for the second straight season.
That was in the UAAP. Now it’s in the PBA D-League.
In his first two games with Blackwater Sports in the ongoing Aspirants Cup, Abdul has been struggling to find his old form as he averaged just two points per outing.
Blackwater coach Leo Isaac, however, is patient with his foreign center whom he obtained the services due to the team’s tie-up with UST.
“Tinitimpla pa namin,” said Isaac. “Nag-a-adjust pa siya after his stint with the UAAP and in the Unigames.”
Abdul had not played for more than 20 minutes for the Elite as he tries to figure out the system of the team.
“Siguro, si Karim nasa amin eight days palang. Depende sa kanya (kung kailan siya mag-aadjust). Medyo tinitimpla pa ng therapist namin ‘yung naging injury niya sa UAAP. Meron siya sa tuhod kaya hindi rin namin ma-puwersa,” said Isaac.
So far, the most impressive among the Tigers playing for the Elite is Kevin Ferrer, who averaged 14 points and six rebounds in two games.
Ferrer topscored for the Elite in their first victory of the conference, an 84-60 rout of Boracay Rum. They will next face Fruitas in a match-up that will see Abdul going up against NCAA counterpart Nigerian Ola Adeogun of three-time reigning men’s champion San Beda.
“Sana nga mag-tuluy-tuloy na going into our next game against Fruitas. It will be a tough test for us because they also have a foreign player,” said Isaac.
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