Abouo taking his game to another level
He may see only limited minutes off the bench, but an off-season of hard work and his electric play has firmly established Charles Abouo as a fan favorite and key contributor for the Cougars this season.
“Everybody wants to play, but we have a lot of great players on the team and only five of us can be out there at a time,” Abouo said. “One reason we’ve been successful this season is that we all understand our role and support each other. It’s my job to come off the bench and give us a boost when we need it, and I feel like I’ve done better at that this year.”
As a guy who can play at shooting guard as well as both forward spots, Abouo supplies BYU with plenty of versatility, but after his freshman year he realized he needed to harness his raw ability in order to play a larger role in BYU’s rotation. In addition to extra time in the gym, Abouo spent the summer playing for the Cote d’Ivoire national team, which finished second at FIBA Afrobasket and earned a spot in the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
“That whole experience last summer was great because I got to play in some big games and high-pressure situations” Abouo said. “I needed to get better on both ends of the court, so I worked a lot on my shooting, especially my mid-range game. And with my defense I watched what others were doing with their positioning off the ball and tried to improve in that area.”
Abouo has never had a problem getting to the basket — his rock-solid build and combination of speed and quickness make him hard to stop in the open court — but his perimeter game was limited and he struggled from the free-throw line as a freshman.
His practice seems to be paying off this season, as Abouo has improved his production across the board despite only a modest increase in playing time.
2008-09: 10.7 mpg, 2.9 ppg, .400 fg%, .643 ft%, 1.9 rpg, .39 apg
2009-10: 12.2 mpg, 4.3 ppg, .447 fg%, .721 ft%, 3.0 rpg, .85 apg
This improvement is evidence of his increased aggressiveness, which is also manifesting itself on defense, where Abouo is on pace to double his steal and block totals from last season. To him, the two ends of the court are interconnected.
“If I can get a steal or a block, those are game-changing plays that lead to easy transition points,” Abouo said. “I feel like I’m more comfortable this year just letting the game come to me, and that puts me in position to make more of those plays.”