Looming standoff

Knowing the prestige that the all-Filipino conference brings in a PBA season, Blackwater would like to have Ray Parks suit up once the Philippine Cup opens on Jan. 13.

Problem is, the athletic swingman out of National University, whom the Elite selected second overall in the last Draft, has made it known that he’ll only be available if the Elite are to make the Finals of the tournament sometime in May.

“We have a contractual obligation with the Alab-San Miguel team in the ABL,” Parks’ agent, Charlie Dy, told the Inquirer on Christmas Day. “So, yes, he will play that contract out and join Blackwater on May 11 at the earliest.

“And besides, when we filled out an application form for the [PBA] Draft, we specifically stated that we will play out our Alab contract,” Dy declared.

But team owner Dioceldo Sy, who has dangled the maximum three-year contract worth P10.4 million to Parks in order to lure him out of the Alab fold and get the strongest Blackwater team for the Philippine Cup possible, is hoping that San Miguel releases Parks because “they’re already too strong in the ABL.”

“With Parks in the lineup, we have a fair chance to make the playoffs,” Sy said in a separate telephone interview. “And if we make the semifinals, it will be anybody’s game from there. Who knows? We might even make the Finals.”

Blackwater has never made it past the quarterfinals going to its fifth year in Asia’s pioneering pro league, and if ever the Elite do make a Final Four, he would want that to be in the all-Filipino.

But as of now, the two camps can’t seem to agree on when Parks will start his tenure with the Elite, even as Sy said that he wouldn’t trade the left-handed guard “unless he disrupts the chemistry of the team.”

Reports came out last week that Sy had come to terms with Meralco for a three-team deal that would send Parks to the Bolts.

“We’ve kept our last two top picks [in Mac Belo and Reymar Jose] and we won’t trade him,” Sy said of Parks. “But if for some reason hindi maging maganda chemistry sa team, then that’s the time.”