Parker, Vipers open training camp

PHARR - Smush Parker may not have been aware of the Rio Grande Valley before the Vipers drafted him last week, but he definitely knows where he wants to go.

Parker, the former Los Angeles Lakers point guard, was among 17 players on hand for the first day of Vipers training camp Friday night at the Summit Sports Club.

Parker started alongside Kobe Bryant in the Lakers' backcourt from 2005-07 before joining the Miami Heat and later the L.A. Clippers for truncated stints last season. He was in the Denver Nuggets' training camp this fall before coming back to the D-League. He didn't say as much on Friday, but it's apparent for someone who had never previously heard of the Rio Grande Valley and who has been on the game's grandest stage, the ‘D' is a nice place to visit, but not for too long.

"It's definitely a notch below where I want to be, but it's a step I've got to take to get back to where I need to be," Parker said. "I'm not even thinking short term. Right now I feel in my situation this is a step I need to take. If it's short, I'm excited. If it's not, I'm here and I'm playing basketball again."

While Parker is a proven NBA commodity who doesn't need much developing, for coach Clay Moser developing players as the league's title suggests will have to come later. For a first-year coach, a two-week training camp is hardly ideal.

That's the conundrum Moser faced Friday - quickly installing his offensive and defensive systems and having the team ready for its season opener the day after Thanksgiving is his immediate concern.

"It feels really rushed considering the fact the Fan Fest (on Sunday) which we're really looking forward to, takes away a practice, and we've got orientation (tonight), we're only doing one practice. Then we start with traditional two-a-days on Monday," Moser said. "The other thing from an NBA D-League different perspective, I'm a first-year head coach and we've got four returning players, and 13 new players. We'll go as quickly as we can. We're not going to whine about it. Everyone else has the same problem."

Guard Craig Winder is one of four returning Vipers getting acquainted to 13 new teammates and a new coaching staff. As such he was feeling his way, especially through Moser's grueling conditioning test that less than half the team passed. Winder, a former University of Texas player, said he was one of the eight who made it.

"The first day, a big conditioning test to see what players have been doing," Winder said. "I passed. I wouldn't say easy. I went down fighting and swinging. It was a real welcome back. I didn't expect that at all."

Todd Mavreles covers the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451.