Gilas offense tailor-fit for Kobe Paras
JUST a few days after being included in the Gilas team, Kobe Paras, the youngest member of the squad, is making a good impression.
Head coach Chot Reyes is beginning to take notice.
“His physical skills are very self-evident, but he has to understand first, how to play within this team, within this group of players. Secondly, how to adopt his game to the kind of offense that we’re running. I think the offense is tailor-fit for him,” Mr. Reyes told BusinessWorld.
Mr. Paras didn’t have much difficulty running the dribble drive offense of Mr. Reyes as it is similar to the ones they’ve been doing in his former college team, Creighton.
“It’s perfect, actually. Just because in my old college, Creighton, we run a lot. I’m used to running. Me and Ray Parks did a bunch of dribble drive. It’s great because this has been Coach Chot’s system ever since. When I was watching Gilas before, I was able to see it,” added Mr. Paras, son of Benjie Paras, the only Rookie of the Year/ Most Valuable Player awardee in the PBA.
As the youngest member of the squad at 19, the second generation cager was able to blend himself well with the more experienced players in the Gilas team composed of young players in the PBA.
Mr. Paras added that the experience of playing bigger, faster and more athletic players in the United States had really prepared his skill set, which he is now using while joining the national team program.
“It’s a great experience,” Mr. Paras said. “When I was in the States, I’ve been competing against top of the line players, so I got used to it. If you see high school players in the States, they’re bigger compared to our college players here. I became more comfortable with the banging and everything. But it’s a great feeling being part of the pool because I look up to these guys and now they’re my teammates.”
Ray Parks, who rejoined the national team program and also spent years playing in the United States, was also impressed to see the growth of Mr. Paras.
“It feels great to play with a great competition and talent. Kobe is definitely a talented player,” added Parks.
Seeing Messrs. Paras and Parks playing together was like bringing back the hands of time. Their dads — Benjie and Bobby — were teammates with Shell in the PBA and together they led the team to two championships. —