Kobe advised to go to school
Gilas head coach Chot Reyes said recently budding superstar Kobe Paras might consider going back to school for two years and get his feet back on the ground after playing sparingly in only one season of US NCAA basketball.
Paras, 20, is now seeing action with the Gilas Cadets team in the Filoil Flying V Premier Preseason Cup. Gilas, struggling with chemistry issues, lost its first three games, 75-69 to Ateneo, 91-72 to La Salle and 91-70 to San Beda before breaking into the win column, 72-63, over Perpetual Help. The Cadets bowed to UP, 78-72, in their fifth assignment at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan last Tuesday.
Reyes said his advice to the 6-6 Paras is to forego turning pro. Paras moved from La Salle Greenhills to Cathedral High School in California in 2013. He averaged 15 points at Cathedral then played for Middlebrooks Academy to emerge as a top collegiate prospect. Paras was invited to join UCLA but right before the 2016-17 season started, was cut by coach Steve Alford. He wound up playing at Creighton, another Division I school, averaging 1.3 points and 4.7 minutes in 15 games. Paras left Creighton last year to establish residency at Cal State Northridge whose head coach Reggie Theus saw a lot of promise in his future. But Theus was fired in the offseason, leading Paras to rethink his collegiate career. Paras eventually decided to come back to Manila.
At the Filoil Flying V Cup, Paras is averaging 10.6 points. He shot 13 points on 5-of-14 field goals against Ateneo, 19 against La Salle, 11 against San Beda, two against Perpetual and eight against UP. After Gilas blew a pair of 20-point leads to lose to La Salle by 19, assistant coach Josh Reyes castigated the Cadets for “lack of effort” in the homestretch. He said the team imploded because of too many egos on the floor. There was no reference to any player but word leaked that the coaching staff came down hard on Paras in the dugout.
“Kobe didn’t learn much from the US,” said a Gilas source. “He has to realize that to become better, he has to restart from scratch. It would help if he could return to school and play at least two years just to get back his bearings. No big deal about the exchange of words with Kobe, that’s just typical lockerroom talk. He’s a tremendous talent but he has a lot of learning to do.”
Of the original 23 players named by the SBP for the Cadets squad, 10 have yet to suit up, including foreign-based Remy Martin, A. J. Edu, Dwight Ramos and Troy Rike. Cadets head coach Jong Uichico has to make do with the players available. Ricci and Prince Rivero were recently added to the cast. Ateneo’s Matt Nieto and Thirdy Ravena haven’t still played for Gilas but Eagles teammate Isaac Go made his first appearance with the Cadets in the win over Perpetual. Lyceum’s C. J. Perez, Ateneo prepster Kai Sotto and San Beda’s Robert Bolick have also not played for Gilas in the Filoil tournament.
Reyes said Ricci Rivero has been a positive influence on the team. “Ricci has a great future,” he said. “He’s playing point guard with us because that’s where we see him competing internationally. He’s working on his man-to-man halfcourt defense because at La Salle, they focus on trapping and full-court pressure.” Rivero and former La Salle teammates Andrei Caracut and Dodong Santillan were in Reyes’ original Cadets wish list but the Archers coaching staff asked if the players could be excused from Gilas as the team is in the process of rebuilding. When Rivero and his brother Prince left La Salle, they joined Gilas.