MO Konateh was a walking statistical marvel for coach Sean Chambers and the rest of the FEU Tamaraws in the UAAP Season 87 that it wasn’t a surprise that the Gambian big man made the Mythical Team last year.
Konateh put up league bests of 16.7 boards and 2.3 blocks to go along with his 10.2 points in a season which also saw him grab a season-best 27 rebounds at one point in a loss to La Salle.
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And there were plenty of nights like that for the 6-10 anchor, big nights and big numbers which would often be enough for the Tamaraws to stay in step with their opponents, only to lose in the end.
Entering his sophomore year, he’s confident that all changes now.
“It’s gonna be different from last year,” Konateh told SPIN.ph. “I wanna be better than I was last year. I want to help the team win more games and to reach our goals.”
Saying that he wants to polish his offensive game more to complement his already solid defensive skills, Konateh showed glimpses of it when he scored a game-high 23 points to go with his 16 rebounds and three assists in their 75-65 loss to the UP Fighting Maroons.
While it looks familiar – a big game for Konateh ending in a loss – what’s different this year is this is only their first loss of the tournament after beating the UE Red Warriors and the UST Growling Tigers in that order to kick off their preseason.
“Last year, that was our first year together. We didn’t know anything about the UAAP [level of competition] now, we’re aware. Now we know,” he said. “We’re gonna have to push through ourselves and try to win more games and play together.”
Those close losses from last season, while tough, will definitely be beneficial for Konateh and the Tamaraws down the road.
“What we learned was that we can beat any team in the UAAP. We just have to believe in it,” he said. “We just have to believe in ourselves, believe in our coach, believe in our system, play with more urgency and we can get there.”
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