Andre Paras. PBA IMAGES
It may have been a confidence-building first season for Andre Paras in the PBA D-League, but he knows that there’s still a lot to learn before he thinks about making the jump to the pros.
“I still need to work on a lot of things,” he admitted as he and the rest of AMA Online Education bowed out of the 2017 Foundation Cup on Thursday.
Paras is averaging 8.67 points, 13.33 rebounds, and 1.56 assists this conference in a promising showing with the Titans.
But the second-generation baller knows his efforts are still not enough if he decides to take the leap now so he wants to focus on honing his game first.
“To be honest, I don’t really have plans with anything. So I guess what I can work on is on my individual game,” he said.
“I need to work on strength because as you can see, I’ve been playing pretty much the whole game. For me, it’s not enough that I get 10 rebounds. I need to have timing, speed, and strength. You can always say you gave your heart and you gave it your all, but you really need to do it.”
The 21-year-old center is willing to take the long route to improve on his game while trying to help the Titans to a better campaign the next season.
“I’m not hiding anything. We need to work on a lot of things especially on offense and defense,” he said. “For those out there who understands basketball, we’ve had so many lapses, and as a player and as someone who loves the game, we really lack execution and defense. We need to develop our individual skills too, so that when you combine all of those, it will look fluid in the game.”
Paras said it’s a challenge he and the team must face head-on as they hope to rebound from this woeful 1-9 campaign.
“It’s growing pains. The chemistry is there, but I think in the court, we need to mature as players . When it comes to the game, everyone should have one mindset,” he said.