Earning a Measure of Respect

Tom Parada’s basketball warm-ups drape over his 5-foot, 2-inch, 110-pound frame like a kimono. A basketball seems disproportionately large in his hands. At first glance, the St. Francis High student looks less like a varsity starter and more like a dribbling-drill pylon--a mere speed bump between a 6-2 guard and a field goal.

However, Parada’s most valuable commodity on the court might be the tool he lacks: size.

St. Francis Coach John Jordan says Parada has become a lure of sorts--enticing prey for opportunistic teams. But their plans usually falter.

“Opposing coaches tell me that one of the dumbest things they’ve done is try to attack his height,” Jordan said. “It just takes them right out of the flow of the game.”

Parada, a senior, is the Golden Knights’ starting point guard and averages 8 points and 8 assists a game. He says he has yet to have a shot blocked this season.

Because of a wealth of talent at the guard position last season, Parada was used sparingly. And at 4-10, he might have been the shortest varsity player in the Southern Section.

Parada has since grown 4 inches and he worked on improving his game to the tune of 5 hours of basketball a day during the summer. Still, some of Parada’s teammates thought it unlikely that he would make a sizable impact this season.

Even close friends on the team, such as Allen Freemon, were skeptical.

“To be honest I was one of the guys who said it’s not going to work but he made a believer of me,” Freemon said. “He’s remarkable.”

Parada, 17, has learned to accept doubters. He adheres to the maxim: You don’t command respect, you earn it. However, Parada’s first task was bolstering his self image. During his sophomore season, when he was demoted from the junior varsity to the sophomore team, his confidence took a pounding akin to being dribbled on an asphalt court.

And an episode in practice last season didn’t help his bruised confidence any. After each practice the team was divided into small groups. Each group would compete in a free-throw contest and the losing teams would run sprints.

In one such drill, Parada had to make a free throw to seal his group’s victory. He stepped up to the line, set and released a shot that fell 5 feet short of the rim.

Parada’s group groaned. The rest of the team roared.

“I was concentrating and my hands were slippery,” Parada reasoned. Though he says he laughed along, teammates say Parada was sensitive about the incident long after it happened.

Playing pickup games in Westwood helped Parada’s confidence. His brother Robert attends UCLA and hangs out with Bruin basketball players. And unlike his St. Francis teammates, Tom has gotten the opportunity to play full-court games with Division I talents such as UCLA point guard Pooh Richardson.

Richardson admits he was startled by Parada’s deft ball handling and shooting. “He can play, man,” said Richardson, adding he has no qualms about choosing Parada for his pickup team. “The first time we played together he passed the ball behind his back. I was laughing, but he’s real good.”

Players less discriminating than Richardson are impressed by Parada’s ability to thread a no-look pass through a group of defenders.

“He’s gotten me the ball when there are five guys between us,” Freemon said. “Anybody can shoot, but the way he gets the people the ball is amazing.”

Ironically, Parada recently had his best game against Loyola, the tallest team in the Del Rey League. The Cubs (16-2) are in first place and are ranked fourth in the Southern Section 5-AA Division.

At one point during the game, Parada made a defensive switch and wound up guarding 6-10 Ryan Jamison, the tallest player in league.

“Everybody in the stands was laughing,” Parada said. “He was laughing, too. If he would have put it on the ground I would have ripped him.”

Later, Parada lined up along the key next to Jamison on a free-throw attempt. “I looked up at him and said, ‘ My board,’ ” Parada mused. Jamison’s 20-inch height advantage won out, however.

Though St. Francis lost, Parada scored 17 points. Afterwards, Loyola Coach Bill Thomason read the Knights’ statistics to his players. Hearing of Parada’s offensive output didn’t faze the Cubs.

“I said he got 17 and nobody said, ‘ That guy? He scored 17?’ ” Thomason said. “They just shook their heads and said, ‘Hey, he can really score.’ He definitely won our respect.”

Other league coaches have been equally impressed by Parada.

“A lot of teams think they can get all over this guy and tear him up,” Crespi Coach Paul Muff said. “We put people right up on him but he handles that size situation so well.

“The first time I saw him he was on the sophomore team and I don’t think anybody at the time could see this guy playing varsity ball and starting for them. It’s refreshing to see a guy that size do as well as he has against good competition.”

Parada says he would like to play college ball at Loyola Marymount because, “the game is so up tempo that there would be no time to get in a halfcourt offense.”

And though the chances of Parada playing at that level are, at best, remote, he is unswayed.

He has learned to deal with doubters.