SWISSSHHHH! THAT'S A SOUND fourteen year-old Parker LaLonde hears often when shooting a basketball. As a point guard, however, it’s a sound the selfless Parker prefers to hear coming from the hands of his teammates. Standing tall at 5’5’’, Parker is one of the many rising stars at the Yorkville Youth Athletic Association (YYAA). He sports a dazzling repertoire of moves that break down defenders, allowing him to either score at will or dish to a teammate. Hesitation dribbles, spin moves, raw speed and a silky smooth jumper have made Parker one of the toughest players to stop at Yorkville. And, that has been the case for quite some time now.
“I’ve been playing since I was five,” Parker said. “My dad bought me a plastic sixfoot hoop in my room and I liked the game so much that I just started playing in lots of leagues. At one point, when I was like seven, I was playing in five leagues at the same time.”
Those who have been fortunate enough to watch Parker play ball over the years are amazed not only at how good he has become on the court, but how much he has developed as a person off it.
“I have been fortunate enough to watch Parker grow over the years,” Lance Williams, Director of Travel and Training for the YYAA, said. “While we all knew he would be a very good basketball player, the young man he has become is more of a joy to watch.”
On the court, Parker is almost impossible to defend. I learned this first hand. After hearing about Parker’s basketball prowess from players and coaches, this reporter decided to do some primary research. I challenged Parker to a game of one-on-one. The game didn’t last long. Parker shut me out 7-0. Obviously I had no answers, so I went to the source. What’s Parker LaLonde’s advice on how to stop Parker LaLonde?
“Well, sometimes I have an off game so that might help someone stop me,” Parker said with a laugh. “But I always feel like I’m the fastest one on the court.”
Like any reporter worth his salt, I had to vet this source thoroughly. Toward that end, four of Parker’s friends and YYAA competitors offer up their tips on how to stop Parker LaLonde:
T.J. Randall --> “I’ve played with Parker for years. He’s really quick so he’s hard to guard. Depending on how he’s shooting – like if he’s missing -- I’ll let him shoot. If he’s shooting very well that day, I’ll make him go the opposite way. If he’s going to try to drive past me, I just try to beat him to the spot and I’ll tell a teammate behind me to watch out and help out. I also try to tire him out when he’s guarding me. I’ll take jab steps to make him move side to side and make him keep running around. But he’s really hard to get tired too because he has great stamina.”
Andrew Leone --> “I think he’s very quick and he’s very smart on the court and has a great jump shot.
David Mosler --> He’s very, very fast. So to guard him you have to stay farther back but it’s really hard to guard him because he has a great jump shot too. I think it’s better to play him tighter than looser. That way you take away his jump shot because he is the best shooter here. As a forward I try to help the point guard when Parker passes him on defense. On help defense, when Parker drives, I have to step up to either block him or draw the charge. It works better to draw the charge.
Brandon Dym --> As a center, I focus more on the help defense. Parker’s a fast player so I’d go over to him and stick my arms up because it would be hard for him to shoot over me. But if he passes the ball, I have to quickly shuffle over back to my man. If he’s having a hot shooting day and not driving much, what we can do is play a box-and-one where we have four people on each corner of the key and one person play man-to-man on Parker. If we have one person on him constantly then it’s harder for him to make a move because if he makes a move to the basket, one of us in the box can help out.
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