‘Character’ key to Blackwater’s early success, says Ray Parks

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

ANTIPOLO CITY—Blackwater is off to one of its best starts in franchise history going 5-1 in its first six games in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after a 132-106 thrashing of NLEX on Saturday at Ynares Center here

The Elite are currently atop the league standings after their brutal beatdown of the Road Warriors and star rookie Bobby Ray Parks said it’s a testament to the team’s character and willingness to deliver.

Fueling the Elite’s win was their blistering offense with three players scoring at least 20 points and two more putting up at least 10.

Blackwater shot the ball with such efficiency, converting 50 of its 88 attempts and going 13-of-25 from beyond the three-point arch.

“It’s the character of the team, we have a lot of scorers and a lot of people took sacrifices to let other players play their game,” said Parks, who finished with 29 points five assists, and two steals.

“Anybody can pop off at any given night and that’s great firepower to have.”

Parks had plenty of help in import Alex Stepheson who had 21 points, 17 rebounds, and five assists, and forward Allein Maliksi who also had 21 points, nine of which came in the fourth.

Parks, despite the huge offensive outing, said the Elite still have to improve on defense after allowing the Road Warriors to shoot at a 44.9 percent clip.

“Both teams played great offense but at the end of the day, we still got to work on our defense,” said Parks. “I think we should have limited them more.”