Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. wasn’t bothered by the physicality in the Blackwater Elite game versus the Columbian Dyip on Sunday evening in the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup – even if he ended up with a bloody nose.
The 26-year-old had to sit out a while during the fourth due after an inadvertent hit by Dyip’s Jackson Corpuz. Parks, Jr. still managed to return, but Corpuz hit him yet again during a fight for the ball late in the game.
“It’s fine. Like I said, I’ve been playing international level already, so the physicality is nothing new to me,” the well-traveled rookie out of NU said. “The young me would have been frustrated, would have been mad.
“But at the end of the day, just keep my cool and continue to just work hard, that’s all I can control.”
For Parks Jr., what matters most is the win. And he and the Elite pulled it off as they weathered the Dyip’s fightback from 13 down early in the fourth quarter then won, 118-110, for their third win in a row.
“As long as we got the win. The most important thing. It was rough today, I didn’t start off on a good note. But we’re young, we’re still learning, so we gotta continue to build,” said Parks Jr., who finished with 23 points.
Parks, Jr. also tipped his hat to his teammates for a job well done. Five players finished in double-figures in the win, with import Alex Stepheson leading the pack with 26 points on top of 21 rebounds and seven blocks.
“It’s not just about me. Everybody is doing their part,” said the three-time ASEAN Basketball League Local MVP.
“It’s not really about one person. We want to continue to grow like this where we’re playing team basketball.”
Despite their 3-0 start in the mid-season joust, Parks, Jr. and his crew are looking to improve further, since they want to prove that their wins are no fluke. And they can prove it again should they conquer Phoenix on Friday.
“We’re for real. That’s one thing I can say, we’re for real. It just goes to show the hard work that we put in. We’re young, like what I said. It’s a different type of Blackwater right now, and my thing is, these games, they’re no fluke,” he said.
“We took teams down to the wire, it just happens the breaks of the game, it came our way. Those are great teams. Like what I said, it’s a testament to the hard work – all the way from the coaches, to the ball boys, to us, to the management,” he continued.
“And we’re just reaping the benefits right now. Hopefully, we continue to just grow, continue to build, continue to dig, continue to build into our character.”
