Homecoming

Welcome home.
(Photo credit to the owner)

Though it may have taken a while, and may even only be temporary, but for the time-being 2x UAAP MVP and NBA hopeful RayRay Parks is finally “home.”

Home to strut his wares for neophyte Alab Pilipinas in the coming ASEAN Basketball League season; home to showcase just how far he has grown as a basketball talent and person; home to prove all of his critics and those he deem as “haters” wrong.

Parks will be joining an Alab team that badly needs his starpower, though it is not exactly lacking in terms of talent or firepower. Joining him are Paulo Hubalde, JR Cawaling, Robby Celiz, Jeric Fortuna, Anthony Gavieres, Jens Knuttel, Jovet Mendoza, Val Acuna, Hans Thiele and imports: (ASEAN) Laurence Domingo, Igee King, (World) Lee Sueng Jun and Lee Dong Jun.

The ABL's Filipino Imports

#CanadaSaPBA
(Photo courtesy of sports-asia.com)

While the Philippine basketball world quietly (and anxiously) waits for the time when promising 6"7 Fil-Tonggan center Moala Tautuaa is able to complete his stint with the PBA D-League and all other requirements to apply for the PBA Draft next year (or the one after that), cellar-dwelling teams need not wait that long to address their PBA Philippine Cup woes.

Six talented Filipino basketball players are currently included on different rosters in the neighboring ASEAN Basketball League which saw a drop in game play this last season (with the Philippine-representative, San Miguel Beer, opting to pull out and probably the reduced number of ASEAN imports as two possible culprits). With the ABL season now at a close, we wonder why the PBA teams haven't come knocking at these gentlemen's doors. We understand contracts and all, but surely teams that are in a bind and looking to salvage their season before it gets any worse (Kia Sorento and Blackwater) can manage to shell out a few extra bucks if only to save face.

You'll have to bear with us on this one, since the ABL seems to be in a deteriorating state and seems to have lost their online stats-updating team for some reason so we're going with purely basketball scouting and our own two cents here.

Jerick Canada, PG, HiTech Bangkok City
Let's start with the ABL Finals MVP and how great he looked for head coach Jing Ruiz (also a Filipino). Canada's shooting is still iffy at best, but the way he is able to control the floor and his teammates is not something you'd take for granted considering they're mostly Thais and American imports who're mostly out for stuffing the stat sheet and angling for bigger pay. Put Canada on a team like Kia Sorento and he'll prove to be the most heady point guard in the rotation right from the start. On Blackwater, he'll be a perfect mentor for up-and-coming Cebuano playmaker Brian Heruela while possibly sending Juami Tiongson back to the D-League and Paul Artadi near retirement. If Jeric Fortuna can make it into the pros, there's no reason why Canada shouldn't be given a second look. Basically, he's the guy that-- when a younger hot-off-the-plane Stanley Pringle was busy going 100 mph for the Indonesia Warriors, made sure that they actually won a title that one year together.