There’s no denying the impact rookie Bobby Ray Parks Jr. has brought into the Blackwater Elite franchise.
On Saturday evening, the well-travelled cager produced 29 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals in over 30 minutes to lead the Elite’s 132-106 mauling of the NLEX Road Warriors.
The 26-point winning margin is now Blackwater’s biggest in franchise history. Moreover, their offensive output has become their largest — so far — in their five-year stay in the league.
More importantly, though, the win hiked the Elite’s record at 5-1 to stand atop the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. This is definitely a major turnaround after going just 2-9 in the 2019 Philippine Cup.
Some might say that Parks Jr. is the savior that the franchise needs. But the 26-year-old doesn’t see himself that way, that their dismal record last conference does not reflect how good the team is.
“I felt like the 2-9 record the team had in the first conference didn’t really reflect how good of a team this is. I’m just here to help,” said Parks Jr., who’s currently averaging a team-best 23.5 points.
“Everybody’s getting their confidence, everybody’s getting their bearings. We have a great import, a great coaching staff and like I said, they’re giving us a chance to do something great and we wanna take advantage of this.”
The Elite’s collective effort was on full display in the rout of the Road Warriors. Blackwater collected a whopping 29 assists, which led to an excellent 56.8-percent shooting from the field.
Moreover, four more players aside from Parks Jr. produced in double figures — Alex Stepheson and Allein Maliksi had 21 points apiece, as Mac Belo and Mike DiGregorio had 14 and 11, respectively.
“It’s the character of the team. We have a lot of scorers, a lot of people took sacrifices to let other players play. It’s just a testament to the character of the team,” said Parks Jr.
“Anybody can pop off at any given night and that’s a great firepower to have.”
