BOL Bol’s stint in the PBA came to a premature and unfortunate end last Friday when he sustained an Achilles tear in his left foot during the Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.
The 7-foot-3 Bol went down while trying to split a Meralco double team in the first quarter of Game 2 of the semifinals, leaving TNT without its super import at a time when he seemed to have started to click with his locals.
COLUMN: Bol leaves behind a complicated legacy - and unfinished business
TNT coach Chot Reyes said they offered the win to Bol, who still made sure to make his presence felt prior and even during Game 3.
“We are in constant touch and kinumusta ko siya. I said ‘Bol, How are you?’ And I was expecting him to talk about the injury. But Bol’s text to me, this was verbatim, and Bol’s text was ‘I’m just disappointed, coach, that I’m not there with you throughout the playoffs because I really felt we had a good chance to win a championship.’”
“For him, hindi niya iniisip yung future niya, yung career niya. Nanghihinayang lang siya na hindi siya kasama namin. I read that message to the guys before the game and I said that there is something that is greater here than just basketball.
"It’s really our relationships, our bond to each other, and I think in the end, we gave ourselves a chance to be lucky. And that’s what happened,” said Reyes.
Reyes said Bol watched Game 3, even messaging TNT team manager Jojo Lastimosa to express his thoughts about the match.
“Nagte-text nga daw kay Jolas during the game, nagko-coach ng ganito, ganito,” Reyes bared.
Win one for Bol
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser said the team was inspired to win one for Bol.
“It was disappointing losing Bol, losing our teammate, losing our brother,” said Ganuelas-Rosser, who stepped up with eight points and eight rebounds in Game 3. “Coach said that he messaged him and said he really wanted to be out here. So we want to go out there and dedicate the game to him and play for him.”
“He carried us here so hopefully, we can bring us across the finish line and we could finish the job. We have a core of guys that when our back is against the wall, we find ways. Today, like coach said, a couple of lucky bounces, a couple of plays that we made, we came out with the win. But it’s only one win in the series,” he added.
Reyes said that, contrary to perceptions, Bol was a joy to coach, and showed no attitude problems over the course of the conference.
“I don’t know where that impression came from,” said Reyes. “Between us, magkapitbahay kami niyan, we stayed in the same condo compound. I’m on one tower, he is in the other. We see each other even outside practice and outside games. I’ve never had a problem with Bol.”
“He has done everything we ask offensively and defensively. He’s never missed a practice. One time, he got sick. One time, we went to the dentist. Other than that, he’s always been in every practice,” said Reyes.
“He is very coachable. In practice, may sabihin ka lang sa kanya, gagawin niya. Kapag may sabihin siya sa game, gagawin niya. Kapag nagkamali siya, sasabihin niya, ‘That’s mine, coach.’ Minsan nga pinagagalitan ko yung mga kasama niya, sabi niya ‘That’s my fault.’”
On the players’ relationship with Bol, Ganuelas-Rosser said: “You have to understand, Bol, it’s his first time ever leaving the States. He was adjusting to the culture, to the country.”
“And like coach said, he was there everyday working. He was receptive to everything that we told him,” he added.
BGR said it was also unfortunate that Bol went down at a time when the team had already learned to play with each other better.
“It took time. It was really unfortunate. It really felt like it finally clicked for us. And then, he went down,” Ganuelas-Rosser said. “For the most part, Bol was a great teammate. Hopefully, in the future, our paths crossed again. All in all, he is a great guy."
Bol is set to go back to the US on Wednesday to undergo surgery to repair his Achilles, but not after leaving an indelible mark not just at TNT but in the entire Philippine basketball community.
“Wala kaming masabi with his attitude, his work ethic. He was a dream to coach and to work with,” Reyes said.
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