The first round of the UAAP Season 82 Men’s Basketball Tournament has been, for the most part, as competitive as it comes. Still, there was one team that stood out from the rest — defending champions Ateneo de Manila University.
The Blue Eagles emerged from the first round unblemished, with their 71-70 win over UST the only threat to their perfect 7-0 record.
In the middle of that perfection was Ateneo’s commandeering center Angelo Kouame. The 6-foot-10 big man once again showed up for the Blue Eagles in their last two games, to become this season’s fourth Chooks-to-Go/SMART Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week.
Kouame first powered Ateneo to a dominant win over UE, 85-68. He then fueled a convincing victory in their Finals rematch against UP, 89-63.
In those back-to-back games, the Ivorian tower averaged 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds, including 8.5 at the offensive end. He also had 5.0 blocks, making a legitimate case for the MVP award in the process.
After the first round, Kouame is a close second to frontrunner Soulemane Chabi Yo of the UST Growling Tigers in the MVP race. The former with 81.73 Statistical Points (SPs), just a little under latter’s 82.71 SPs.
Still, Kouame isn’t concerning himself with the top individual award. All he’s focused on is helping the Blue Eagles get their third straight title.
“I’m just focused on the game because everybody has to do their job,” he said. “When you do your job, you make the others better.
“It’s not just for myself. If I want to run for MVP, I’m not playing for the team and I’m playing for myself. I’m just doing my thing the way I always play.”
Kouame edged out teammate Will Navarro, La Salle workhorse Encho Serrano, FEU rookie sniper Xyrus Torres, and UE Senegalese powerhouse Alex Diakhite for the weekly recognition handed out by writers from print and online covering the league.
