Patience pays off

Bobby Ray Parks will likely join the PBA draft this year, ripe and ready to go pro. He played three years with the NU varsity in the UAAP seniors then left in 2013 to pursue his dream of making it to the NBA. Parks, 25, wound up playing in the NBA D-League, ABL, Gilas and now the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. The two-time UAAP MVP refrained from jumping straight into the PBA to polish his act and explore other options, knowing that once he’s in the PBA, it’ll be a life-long commitment. Kiefer Ravena, 24, took a similar pathway in making his PBA debut this season.

Ravena ended his UAAP career in 2015, tried his luck in the US, played for Gilas and was the second overall pick in last year’s PBA draft behind Christian Standhardinger. “My decision of not joining the draft class of my real draft class in the year I graduated was a big factor (in the smooth transition to the PBA),” said Ravena. “I really got myself ready with the adjustment. When I was in college, I got used to doing everything for my team, scoring, assisting, rebounding. What made the transition to the PBA easier for me was my role was shared. I could just give the ball to someone since everybody is a capable scorer in the PBA, everybody could do certain jobs and fulfil their role. That’s why the adjustment wasn’t difficult.”

Ravena said it’s a blessing that NLEX coach Yeng Guiao’s system is a fit for his style. “My US training also made it easier to adjust,” he said. “It was really hard being alone over there. I became a viewer of how the PBA game is played. I watched my college batchmates like Mac Belo and R. R. Pogoy, how they adjusted to the PBA. Sabi ko pag ako naman ang nagpa-draft, this is how I’ll play. For me, it was more of a mental adjustment, how to maintain my style of playing in the PBA, by not slacking off, knowing I’m just a rookie.”

Living in the US for a year was a challenge but a positive learning experience for Ravena. “My family visited me during Christmas,” he said. “That was the only time I saw them. A lot of people were iffy about my decision of skipping the draft and going to the US, trying out for the D-League or the NBA. Someone asked me if it was possible or impossible to break through. It’s a mix of both. It’s possible because you’re there to try it out and it will only be impossible if you don’t go there and try. I was there to really give myself and my dream a chance, more than anything else, more than what the people insist na di ko naman kaya. It was more of a self-fulfilling act of going to the US and trying it out. I had no expectations. I had no guarantees of making it to any team at all. With a little help from different people and buti na lang nakapag-ipon ako, I was the one who really sustained my stay in the US. Ako naman kasi, when I tried it out there, it wasn’t for my sole benefit. I carried the hopes of thousands and thousands of aspiring basketball players, the youth, that they can also dream big and see what they can achieve in the future. More than anything, that was the barrier that I wanted to face.”

In the US, Ravena played point guard exclusively. “Every team I played with, every camp I joined, I was a point guard,” he said. “It helped me transition from being a combo guard in college. Here, I may be a big guard but in the US, playing point guard was the one skill I really practiced. In the US, you’re up against a lot of talented players so my job was to facilitate, get everybody involved and when my shot was up, I just had to make it.”

Ravena said his biggest influencers are his father Bong and mother Mozzy. When he’s on stage talking to an audience, particularly kids, the first message Ravena delivers is always listen to your parents. “Lahat ng sinasabi ng mga magulang is for our own good,” he said. “That’s one message na di ko makakalimutan to tell them. Aside from stay in school, you have to listen to your parents because they know best. My mom’s like my best friend. I can tell her everything especially now that I’m at the stage of being stable, earning my own money, not asking from them anymore, helping out in the house. We talk more often about certain things in life, more of a life talk instead of my career in general.”

As for his father, Ravena said he’s his all-time idol. “I’m always compared to my dad,” he said. “So instead of me just playing, I had a chip on my shoulder knowing I’m compared every game to my dad. Will I exceed what my dad did, will I play in the PBA? I might be too small to try out for the D-League? But the sooner you accept that you’re under a microscope and open to scrutiny, the better. It will be easier. Now, I’m enjoying kahit na nakatingin sa iyo ang lahat ng tao. Not everybody gets that attention. I take responsibility for that. You’ve just got to take care of things.”