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Serge Angounou was ready for his NBA Developmental League debut with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, even if it took longer than he expected.

The T-Birds took the floor for their 7 p.m. game against the Idaho Stampede at Tingley Coliseum Friday night, but Angounou was not a starter. He was on the bench.

About 8 minutes into the game, T-Birds coach Jeff Ruland went to his bench and sent in his first subs, but Angounou was not one of them.

Gradually, Ruland worked his way down his bench, inserting the five subs who still were wearing their warmups. He used seven, eight and then nine players, but Angounou was not one of them.

Finally, midway through the second quarter, Angounou heard his name called. He took off his sweats and officially became a professional basketball player about 30 minutes later than he had wanted.

"He's been struggling in practice," Ruland explained about Angounou's late entrance. "When he got in, he made some plays and got some minutes."

Angounou played for 17 minutes in the Thunderbirds' 94-92 victory over the Stampede. He scored seven points by hitting three of his five shots from the floor. He finished with two rebounds and had one steal and one turnover. It was an inauspicious debut, but one that was adequate.

"You have to be ready whenever the coach calls you," Angounou said. "I learned a lot from watching. Then I gave 100 percent."

"He's a Tasmanian Devil," Ruland said. "That's what we want Serge to be. He did a great job."

For Angounou, this was another step in a life that has been a series of adjustments. And basketball has been his vehicle so he could literally move around the world.

From his home in Yaounde, Cameroon, he moved to Albuquerque, where he played for coach Ron Garcia at Rio Grande High. He had to adjust to American basketball, but did that quickly. The Ravens reached the semifinals of the boys state basketball tournament his senior year and he still remembers the loss to Hobbs. "I was fouled on the last play, and they didn't call it," he claimed.

Garcia helped Angounou land a scholarship at Arizona State, where he had to adjust to college basketball. He had a successful career with the Sun Devils and could have made some big dollars by playing professional basketball in Europe or South America or Asia.

"I could be playing overseas, probably in Portugal or Spain. I felt this is the place I wanted to go. I felt that God really wanted me to be here. I've got a chance to achieve a dream here by going to the NBA. I've got to be patient."

Angounou got a rude welcome to the pros. He had one shot blocked and another time he went to the basket he got hammered and picked himself off the floor without a foul being called.

"I'm not playing in college anymore," he said. "This is a physical game. I've got to be strong."

Basketball is a big part of Angounou's life.

"I love the game a lot. I feel like I can make a lot of money playing basketball. It's like a dream for me. I don't know what God has planned for me, but if it includes basketball, that would be great."

Et cetera:

• Daniel Horton scored 24 points, including two free throws with 9 seconds left, for the game-winning points in the win over the Idaho Stampede in the season opener for both teams.

• Albuquerque overcame a 47-32 rebounding deficit.

• Angounou at 6-foot-8 was covering taller players because the T-Birds have a short, quick team. "We're undersized. We have a lot of mismatches," Ruland admits.

• A crowd of 3,994 was listed for the game, with free attendance to a professional wrestling exhibition after the game included with the ticket.

• The Thunderbirds hit the road for three games and return to Tingley on Dec. 7.

• Albuquerque has a whole new roster with no returning players from last season, and Ruland is a new coach, replacing Michael Cooper. "I had seen parts of D-League games, but not a whole one," Ruland said.