ROBERT Bolick showed he’s ready to take charge at NorthPort following the exit of top gunner Stanley Pringle.
Two games since the Batang Pier dealt Pringle to Barangay Ginebra for Kevin Ferrer, Sol Mercado and Jervy Cruz, the rookie guard out of San Beda helped the Batang Pier continue the fine run and clinch a quarterfinals berth in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Bolick averaged 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists in an all-around effort to lead NorthPort to back-to-back wins over Rain or Shine and Blackwater. The Batang Pier hiked their record to 7-1 for a share of the lead with TnT Katropa.
The impressive performance earned the 23-year-old native of Leyte the PBA Press Corps-Cignal Player of the Week for the period June 17 to 23.
Bolick was chosen over Pringle, NorthPort teammate Sean Anthony and Moala Tautuaa, Jayson Castro and Roger Pogoy of TnT Katropa, San Miguel Beer’s Alex Cabagnot, Paul Lee of Magnolia, and Jericho Cruz of NLEX.
In NorthPort’s first game without the 32-year-old Pringle, Bolick and Tautuaa carried the fight for the Batang Pier by rallying them from a 25-point deficit to nip the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in overtime, 107-105.
Bolick hit 22 points and fired the pressure-pack three-pointer with 11 seconds left in regulation that sent the game into overtime.
Tautuaa finished with a career-high 34 points for NorthPort, which played with only an eighth-man rotation.
Three days after, Bolick was at it again, falling a rebound short of a triple-double in NorthPort's 127-99 rout of import-less Blackwater. He had 16 points and 10 assists in the win that marked the first game of Mercado, Ferrer and Cruz with the team.
Bolick admitted he owed Pringle a lot for making him the player that he is with NorthPort right now.
“Gusto ko siyang makasama ng mas matagal. Kaso one conference lang, madami pa sana akong matututunan. Kung ano man meron ako ngayon (sa) laro ko, lahat, sa kanya (Pringle) ko natutunan yun,” said Bolick of the player he considered as his first pro mentor.
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