NBA scout John Purves advises NU’s Bobby Ray Parks to toughen up

Bobby Ray Parks, Jr., no doubt, is one of young players who have the potential to play in the NBA someday.

But how he reacted and was affected by physicality of his defender will be something he needs to check.

Memphis Grizzlies scout and current Petron Blaze Boosters team consultant John Todd Purves told Solar Sports that for Parks to become a better player, he should learn to play against all forms of adversities.

“For professional players, there is an occasion where you have to stand for yourself,” said Purves, once a video researcher for the Sacramento Kings.

“When a player feels as though his defender is getting extra physical, it’s his job not to allow that to change his mindset about his goals for that game,” he said.

“You cannot allow yourself to be mentally taken out of the game because someone is getting physical,” added Purves.

The former Monterey Peninsula College coach also emphasized the dangers of allowing a defender to derail his rival.

“It will create an identity of being soft. You have to match their level of physicality at all times,” he said. “You always have to create a sense of toughness.”

A good friend of Parks’ late dad, Bobby Senior, Purves also relayed his advice to the young national University Bulldog.

“My advice to Bobby is the same way I tell my players: ‘Don’t allow your focus to be derailed, regardless. You have to have such concentration on what you are trying to do,” he said.

“You cannot let outside variables affect your focus,” Purves said.

The amiable American mentor also compared the situation of Parks to NBA legend Michael Jordan who had to face different types of physicality in his storied career, especially the Detroit Pistons, to which Parks compared the pesky defense applied to him by UST Tigers’ Kevin Ferrer.

“Look at Michael, he received different types of cheap shots. But he allowed his focus to push through that,” insisted Purves.

“At the end of the day, all those Jordan ‘attackers’ did not succeed,” he said.

And for Parks to succeed further in his blossoming career, Purves admonished the young UAAP star to be more resilient, because toughness of the game gets worse as you elevate to higher leagues.

“Anytime you go up a level, absolutely there is a higher level of physicality. And that is the challenge,” he said. “Everything that comes his way, should serve as a challenge he needs to hurdle.”

“He should also understand that in all defensive rotation or offensive sets, physicality will be very much a part of it,” Purves said.

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