NBA SUMMER LEAGUE: Bobby Ray Parks Takes HIs Shot

Photo courtesy of hoops.ph

It's been a long journey for Bobby Ray Parks and the end of the road is still nowhere in sight.

As of this writing, Parks had already played in his second Summer League, finally scoring a point and grabbing 1 rebound in almost 8 minutes of gametime.

Still, it was a big improvement over his first Summer League game, when he looked jittery en route to a 1 foul, 1 turnover game in just 3 minutes of play.

Of course, these stats don't really tell the entire story. Bobby Ray Parks is by no means a bust, if that word can be used on an undrafted rookie with lots of room to grow.

But if Bobby Ray Parks wants to make a bigger impact, here are three things he needs to address immediately:

1) Defense - Parks played bad defense in his first game, adequate defense in his second. I believe it was his good defense early in the second quarter that earned him more minutes in the third quarter. If he wants more minutes, he's got to remain active, maybe make an impact on the defensive boards or shut down his opposing number enough for the scouts to notice the shut down.
2) Nerves leading to turnovers - Parks has got to cut down on his TO's. Every time he commits a turnover, he is yanked a couple of minutes later. Fair? Not really. But it is his reality. And his turnovers are more often than not the product of nervous energy. He's got to learn to channel that into positive actions inside the court. If not, he's going to earn the reputation of lacking composure, a sure death sentence for a young guard who will make lots of mistakes as he learns the NBA game.
3) Scoring at the rim - Parks is athletic, though not very fast by NBA standards. But he should be able to overcome his less than stellar (again, by NBA standards) first step with his body strength and control, leading to great opportunities at the rim. He should take advantage of the fact that he is an unknown entity to the opposition, by exploding to the rim at every chance he gets, because they won't know what he likes to do. There are no scouting reports on him so they won't know if he will dunk it, lay it up, throw up a tear drop, go for a floater, stop and pop a short jumper, hook shot it etc...

That being said, Bobby Ray Parks has conducted himself with professionalism and honor on the court. We should all be proud of this young man.