Parsons can’t wait to feel Pinoy energy

Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons said the other day he’s looking forward to putting on a show against the Indiana Pacers in a preseason game at the SM MOA Arena on Oct. 10 because “I’ve heard that Filipinos are really passionate about basketball and I can’t wait to feel this energy when I get there.”

Parsons, 24, is now in the playoffs for the first time in his two-year pro career. Both the Rockets and Pacers qualified for the first round of the post-season. Houston (45-37), the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, faces No. 1 Oklahoma City (60-22) while Indiana (49-32) is No. 3 in the Eastern Conference and battles No. 6 Atlanta (44-38). In the series opener, the Thunder trounced the Rockets, 120- 91, last Sunday with Parsons scoring nine points in 24:41 minutes. Oklahoma City won Game 2, 105-102, at the Chesapeake Energy Arena the other night with Parsons firing 17 points, including 3-of-10 treys.

It will be the first game between two NBA teams in Manila ever and SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy has invited NBA commissioner David Stern to attend as special guest. No doubt, the microscope will be on the Rockets as they’re the youngest team in the NBA with an average age of 23.7 and the league’s second highest-scoring squad, hitting 106 points a game. Parsons is one of three Rockets considered to be among the NBA’s New Generation Superstars Ð the others are James Harden, 23, and Jeremy Lin, 24.

Parsons appears to be following in Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird’s footsteps. He’s the first NBA player since Bird to score at least 32 points on .923 field goal percentage with no less than five triples attempted. In 1986, Bird netted 33 points on 12-of-13 field goals and 4-of-5 triples. This season, Parsons shot 32 points on 12-of-13 field goals and 6-of-7 triples. Parsons is far from coming even close to what Bird did in his first two seasons but has the tools to catch up. As a rookie, Parsons averaged 9.5 points and as a sophomore, averaged 15.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Bird averaged 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists as a rookie and 21.2 points, 10.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists as a sophomore.

“That’s pretty unbelievable to even be compared to Larry Bird,” said Parsons in an overseas conference call with media, including The STAR. “He’s one of the best players to ever play the game and just to be in the same sentence as him is pretty special. Coach (Kevin) McHale obviously played with him and knows how good he is and I think he sees potential in me but I’m just trying to be one of the best players in my position and do whatever it takes for my team to win.”

Although Harden leads the Rockets in scoring, Parsons has emerged to be a cold-blooded clutch shooter. With the University of Florida varsity, he knocked down two buzzer-beaters for the marginal points to beat North Carolina State and South Carolina. The North Carolina State killer was a 75foot shot for a one-point victory in overtime. A week ago, Parsons fired a triple at the buzzer to send the Rockets’ final regular season game against the Los Angeles Lakers to overtime.

Against Oklahoma City, Parsons is matched up against the NBA’s second leading scorer Kevin Durant who’s averaging 28.1 points. Both the Rockets and Thunder are high-scoring teams so the duel is a shootout. Oklahoma City ranks third in the league in scoring with a 105.7 clip behind Denver and Houston. The Rockets are No. 6 in assists and No. 17 in rebounds while the Thunder is No. 21 in assists and No. 25 in rebounds. They’re also two of the youngest teams in the NBA and Houston’s inexperience is evident as the Rockets are No. 1 in the league in average turnovers with 16.4 an outing. Oklahoma City is the fifth youngest team with an average age of 24.8.

Parsons said the Rockets are the darkhorse team in the playoffs. “Being the No. 8 seed and playing the No. 1 seed, not a lot of people are going to give us a chance to win the series, let alone a championship, but I think we’re young, I think we’re focused, I think we have the best offense in the NBA,” he said. “As long as we put our focus on the defensive end and rebound, I think we have as good a chance as anybody.”

Parsons, who teamed with Barangay Ginebra import Vernon Macklin at Florida, said it’s inconsequential that the Rockets wound up eighth in the West. “We think we’re a lot better than the eighth seed but with how close the Western Conference playoff chase was, there’s really no difference from six to eight,” he said. “We are what we are and we’re okay with eight and we’re excited to play the Thunder.”