Ray Ray Parks, Jr. is The Natural

Ray Ray Parks, Jr. is the future

Is the reigning UAAP Most Valuable Player ready to make the jump to the Philippine Basketball Association?

This was the hot topic raised the other day following Parks' explosive 32-point outburst that propelled his National University squadback into Final Four contention over the revived De La Salle University program. Parks was making everything look easy, thus this writer's proposed moniker for him. Pretty sure that Quinito Henson or Mico Halili will definitely come up with something cheesier, but what the hell.

On offense, yes, Parks does appear to have that superstar game necessary to be relevant in the pros. He can definitely score from all angles and has nifty handles for his rare combination of size and speed. Defensively however, Parks still has a long way to go to even be considered as an elite basketball player.


Let's go with Parks' offense. Right now, he's having that Ateneo-era JC Intal-like production save for he's not looking to score all the time as much compared to last season. Last season, Parks needed to prove himself worthy and had to raise his team up to his level of play. This year, with the improved line-up and chemistry that they were able to develop, Parks is able to pick his spots and let his teammates shine (always a good thing). He's playing off-the-ball early, and only dominates the rock when his teammates are looking sluggish on the floor.

His handles are nice, but his lean physique will make him an easy target for quick-handed, heavy hitting point guards like Ryan Reyes, Jayson Castro and Wyne Arboleda to pick his pockets. Don't expect him to drive and finish against the pros as effectively either (think of him as a more offensively potent version of Gabe Norwood).

Two areas that Parks needs to develop (other than growing into his man-body) are his post-up game and perimeter shooting. He's been hitting his threes, but Parks lacks a decent and consistent mid-range game wherein he can drive and stop for a J. A post-up game would also do him wonders and this should be developed early while he's going up against "smaller" defenders. Right now, he's playing a lot like LeBron James during the great American's early years. Pulls up for threes, drives to the rim and nothing to offer in the middle. Take his dribbling space away and he'll pull up for the deep three, force him off-balance and he'll just throw it up there instead of finishing strong.

Defensively, Parks has been getting away only because he's just a lot better than anyone at his position in the UAAP. It would've been pretty sweet to see a Parks, Jr. versus Calvin Abueva match-up. If only to see how Parks would handle The Beast's relentlessness and tenacity and keep him from attacking the rim.

If the season ended today, we'd have an NU-Ateneo match-up wherein Parks would probably be matched-up against the vastly improved Nico Salva and maybe even the high IQ Keifer Ravena. Parks would probably outsmart Salva and use his height over Ravena, but there's that huge possibility that both Ateneans are able to bottle up Parks as well.

Pretty sure that Parks will make it to the PBA one day (and make it big), let's not ruin his great college run by throwing him so much praises to the point of the absurd. Let's all sit back, wait and watch the kid develop into the player we all want him to be.

Enjoy the ride folks, it's going to get hella crazier once NU breaks back into the Final Four.

P.S.

Oh, and with the LBJ comparison, don't take it out of context now. If anything, Parks' is definitely not afraid of taking the last shot.