Photo from ASEAN Basketball League Facebook/Onvisa Thewphaingarm
With new imports in tow, Ray Parks is looking forward to a more fruitful 2017 for Alab Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League.
“It’s a blessing, to be honest. It’s great to have them,” he said, as the Philippine side enlisted the services of Sampson Carter and James Hughes for the remainder of the season.
He continued: “It’s what happened to the brothers but management had to make moves to make us a competitive team. We just have to trust them to make us a competitive team.”
Alab decided to part ways with first choice Korean reinforcements Lee Seung Jun and Lee Dong Jun after only leading the squad to a 2-2 record, winning both of its games over the Kaohsiung Truth but failing to do so against the Singapore Slingers.
But with the slight tweaks, Parks is optimistic that the two new recruits could get the team over the hump.
“I enjoy playing with both of them. I feel like they can help the team so much and we will become a different team. We can go big, go small, go quick because it’s definitely athletic. We have some options now,” he said.
Parks is also excited to reunite with Carter, whom he has played with in the AAU tournaments in the United States.
“It feels great. We go way back. I used to be the young [guys], sat on the bench, just clap for them, play garbage minutes. I was playing 17-and-under back then and I was just 14. It feels good right now to play with him and play for my country. I’m just glad he came in, he was open minded about it. We now have to put in the work,” he said.
Parks and the rest of Alab Pilipinas return to the court on January 8 for their third meeting against Kaohsiung in Taiwan.