He was a pretty good student of the game, the kind of kid who had a little gift for shooting a basketball, then he learned fundamental shooting techniques to enhance what was already a good long-range shot.
And just like that, the University of Hawaii at Hilo senior-to-be Parker Farris is a known commodity with a track record in the Pacific West Conference and he’s about to be counted on to maintain a voice of maturity on a team looking up.
“I think it’s fair to say he’s the best pure shooter in the conference that will be returning,” UH Hilo coach GE Coleman said the other day. “But it’s a mistake to look back at that, it’s much more important for him to look ahead and get better.”
Toward the end of his junior season, Farris personally realized his game needed to be upgraded. Never mind his school record nine 3-point field goals made in a single game, his impressive conference rankings in field goal, free throw and 3-point shooting, Farris realized he had room to grow.
“I need to be more efficient and more difficult to guard,” Farris said in a phone interview from California, where he will be working for the next month prior to his return to Hilo. “(Coleman) told me I took the toughest shots in conference last year and I understand the point. I need to be better without the ball, my first step needs to be quicker; I think I can get better shots by working harder to create those opportunities.”
Last year’s team, with a bare seven-player rotation, the smallest backcourt in the conference and a lack of height at all positions, had trouble keeping the ball moving offensively.
“We ‘ball-stopped’ ourselves too often,” Coleman said. “That’s what I call it when you get the ball across the line and then it stops. Our guards were often defended by much bigger players and it made it tough to keep the ball moving.”
As a consequence of defenses double-teaming the ball, Farris often received passes while standing still, with players running at him. Not ideal for a shooter.
Still, Farris finished 17th in field goal percentage (.435), 10th in 3-point percentage (.395) and fourth in free throw percentage (87.2). All of that came together for a 16.0 scoring average and a conference-high 3.2 3-point shots made per game. While 10th in 3-point baskets, only two in the top 10 surpassed his 77 made hoops from beyond the arc.
The approaching season feels different for several reasons, mostly because of the influx of experience and height Coleman has recruited and the return of 6-foot-6 center Darius Johnson-Wilson, sidelined all of his junior year with a knee injury.
But there is also a desire by Farris to improve his numbers and be a team leader.
“I’m an old guy now,” he said, “I’m going to be a senior and I need to help lead these guys, the harder I work, the more I can do.”
Farris accepted a challenge from Coleman to ignore points per game and concentrate more on shooting efficiency.
“I don’t care about my personal stats,” Farris said, “I just want to win the conference, but I have accepted the challenge. I’m going to try to be a 40-50-90 guy, or make at least 40 percent of my 3-pointers, 50 percent of my field goals and 90 percent of my free throws.”
There are reasons for optimism in that regard, starting with a bigger lineup that will feature a 6-1 point guard and perimeter players ranging from 6-3 to 6-6. The more the ball moves, the more the incoming players can attract attention, the more space will open up for Farris.
Last season he made 120 of 276 field goal attempts, had he made 18 more over the 20-game schedule he would have achieved 50 percent shooting. One more 3-pointer (he was 77-for-195), would have left him at 40 percent from distance and three more free throws (68-78 last season) would have achieved 90 percent accuracy.
“When we are able to spread the floor more we can work on him getting to the basket more often,” Coleman said. “That just opens more opportunities for everyone else.”
For Farris, the summer’s work has focused on drills that enhance first step quickness, creating his own shot and conditioning, after he averaged 38 minutes a game last year.
“I want to be able to play 40 minutes if necessary without it being an issue,” he said, “because this is going to be a good year for us.
“We’re going to be good,” Farris said. “We are going to win a lot of games, I absolutely believe that.”
Enough to get to the postseason?
“We will be there,” he said. “We all learned a lot last year, we had some injuries and things that happened, but the core group we have coming back, combined with these guys we have coming in (Farris has already spoken to all the newcomers), is going to make a big difference.”
Four more weeks and they’ll be back, getting to know each other, running their own practices for a month or so until the season officially open up.
“We will work our rear ends off,” said Farris, the senior and leading scorer on the roster, “and we’ll be good.”
Weighty words from one of the Vulcans’ voices of experience for 2016.
