AT 6-foot-10, Gilas Pilipinas center Ange Kouame already stands out in a crowd.
But beside 7-foot-4 Serbian giant Boban Marjanovic, the naturalized player look undersized as he battled the Dallas Mavericks center out of the paint in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament face-off in Belgrade.
And how does it feel giving up six inches to Boban?
"It was super tough," the Gilas slotman said on the heels of Serbia's 83-76 win over Gilas that saw Marjanovic give Kouame and the rest of the Philippine team all they could handle inside the paint, scoring eight of the hosts' last 10 points.
He finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds to spare the hosts blushes in a game that saw the Philippines grab the lead late.
But Kouame stood his ground with 17 points, seven boards, three blocks, and two assists. He also got a lot of help as the young Filipino players lost the battle of the boards to the much taller hosts by only 3, 39-36.
"That was a battle for me, especially for the other guys," said the 23-year-old, who had to take turns with Kai Sotto in defending the behemoth. "We battled. He is tall, he is long, he has a huge wingspan.
"Getting defensive rebounds and being able to keep him out of the paint was the biggest problem for me. [My teammates] really helped me a lot, especially to keep [the Serbians] off the boards," he said.
Losing definitely hurts, but Kouame is taking this defeat in stride as he keeps his focus on the big picture.
"I think the outcome, it is what it is. This is a great learning experience and I will learn from it. I try to picture it and get better for the next couple of players like him that I'm going to be against. So it is a great experience," he said.
"Actually it was a great learning experience for us. It was tough, especially to play against players that we idolized for long time. We're really proud of ourselves, but we know this is not the main point right now because we have to focus on the future. We got to go back in the gym, get it right and then be prepared for the next game because this is what matters right now."
Gilas now turns its attention to Dominican Republic on Friday, with the winner advancing to the knockout stages.
Yet Kouame couldn't help but take a piece of this experience with him in the long run.
For the former UAAP Rookie of the Year, as long as he and fellow Gilas big man Kai Sotto develop their games, it won't be far off to see them playing in the same level as that of Marjanovic.
"I keep improving every aspect of my game. Like what coach said, he wants me to play inside and be a presence. So we keep learning because it's a learning process and I enjoy it," he said.
"But I think two years from now, I will be on top."
Big words from the big man.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
