Gilas' Ange Kouame enjoying the learning process, improving his game

Playing on the biggest stage of his young basketball career yet, Gilas Pilipinas naturalized Filipino Ange Kouame made a good account of himself.

In his first appearance in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Kouame posted 17 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks in a close 83-76 defeat to host Serbia.

But the 23-year-old Ivorian-born big man knows he has a lot of development ahead of him and he thinks two years of hard work is a good amount of time to see how far he can go.

"Right now, I keep improving every aspect of my game," Kouame said in a post-game press conference when asked about where he is in his development. "Like coach (Tab Baldwin) said, he wants me to play inside and be a presence outside, make the three-point shot and everything."

"We keep learning, it's a learning process, and I enjoy it. So I think two years from now, I’ll be on top (of my game)."

Facing Serbia's prized slotman Boban Marjanovic, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA, served as a litmus test for Kouame.

The 6-foot-11 Kouame admitted that manning the middle against Marjanovic was a tough battle, not just for him but also for the other Gilas players who were tasked to help him slow the 7-foot-4 NBA player down.

"It was super tough. That was a battle for me and especially for the other guys because they really helped me a lot, especially to keep him off the board," he recalled.

"He’s tall, he’s long, he has a huge wingspan so getting rebounds, defensive rebounds, and being able to keep him out of the paint was the biggest problem for me."

And though Boban finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead his team to the win, Gilas - thanks in part to Kouame - was able to stick close to Serbia, the No. 5 ranked team in the world.

But he knows the challenges posed by facing Marjanovic was just the first of many he will come across moving forward. And he said he'll just take everything as a lesson and come back a better player from it.

"I think the outcome, it is what it is. This is a great learning experience and I really learned from it."

Kouame and the rest of the Gilas squad will again be tested when they face the Dominican Republic on Friday in the tournament where a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics is at stake.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News