MANILA, Philippines – Tanduay Alab Pilipinas suffered a heavy 80-90 loss to the Singapore Slingers in a rematch that put a stop to their 3-game winning streak.

However, for second-year Tanduay Alab Pilipinas star player Bobby Ray Parks, Jr, he deems this dip as a “blessing in disguise” for him as an individual and as a team. 

“I‘m just glad that I am able to help the team and the coaches trust me because we have a great group of guys and it’s good that that is a blessing in disguise,” said Parks. 

Parks recorded a season-high of 16 points while grabbing 5 rebounds, passing out 4 assists and making one steal and one block. 

Since the debut of imports Renaldo Balkman and Justin Brownlee with Alab Pilipinas this season, critics have slammed the abilities of the team’s local players – Parks included – even overlooking their contributions to the team’s current performance. 

Before the game, Parks quote-tweeted a post from his fan and thanked her for her “unconditional support.” The former National University standout highlighted that he has done “what he could do as an individual player” despite his personal numbers not being up “to par”. 

Thank you so much for your unconditional support!I know individual numbers hasn’t been up to par but i felt i’ve shown what i could do as an individual player.The Championship is what WE are after and it requires much sacrifice  https://t.co/v2pWbdKcbc

— Bobby Ray Parks Jr. (@ray1parks) January 10, 2018

Parks was one of the 4 players from Alab who scored double digits in the game, becoming a vital cog in the rotation in limiting the Chris Charles-led Singapore squad. 

“Finally, I mean it’s just giving about what the team needs. The imports had their hands full tonight with the other imports so they looked for me to score more tonight,” said Parks. 

“I‘m glad to see that they trust me and my shots were going in, and my team mates did a great job of just pushing me and telling me to keep shooting and keep shooting.”

The reigning ABL local MVP even compared his performance with the team to LeBron James’s Achilles’ heel as the NBA-great had a losing record of 8 straight games to the Utah Jazz, but his fans do not remember him for that losing streak. 

“LeBron James is not going to be remembered for losing 8 straight games to the Jazz, he would be remembered for everything else.” 

Parks says his statements are not intended to put down their talented imports, and that he appreciates their international-caliber skills and knowledge in the sport, which will become beneficial to them in their campaign in the league. 

“We’re just playing with some of the best imports in the world to be honest. Balkman, Brownlee, they’re genuines, they’re professional to the game. They know the game and they know how to pick up a team, so there’s a pedestal right now in this team,” explained Parks. – Rappler.com