ROBERT Bolick finally lived up to expectations in Gilas Pilipinas’ 109-78 rout of Kazakhstan on Saturday night at the 20th Asian Games.
But that doesn’t mean the prolific NLEX guard is already out of the woods as far as his injury is concerned.
Despite torching the Kazakhs with a 4-of-6 shooting from three-point distance, the 30-year-old Bolick admitted he’s still feeling the effects of the knee injury he sustained while warming up for the previous game against Bahrain.
Only the round-the-clock monitoring of Gilas’ team of physical therapists led by Arcee Cua allowed Bolick to play his usual game in the 31-point victory - the Philippines’ first in the basketball competitions of the Asiad.
He finished with 20 points including 13 in the first half when his outside sniping allowed Gilas to create an early separation from the opposition.
“Ginawan lang namin ng paraan kaya sobrang thankful ako sa mga PTs namin. Sobrang sakit talaga,” Bolick told One Sports, the official Philippine broadcast partner of the Nagoya Asiad.
“Minsan napapaiyak ako sa sakit, pero kailangang lumaban.”
The knee injury slowed Bolick in an 89-85 loss to Bahrain where he went scoreless on a 0-for-5 shooting from three-point range.
Bolick believes he could have contributed better if not for the hurting knee.
“Feeling ko yung first game, ako na lang yung kulang dun. Wala yung spark ko kaya medyo masakit talaga,” he said.
“Sobrang disappointed. Ang sakit sa puso,” added the veteran shooting guard. “Minsan napapatanong ka kung bakit ngayon pa.”
The injury obviously hampered Bolick’s movement and performance, which didn’t escape the prying eyes of the netizens.
To all this, the 6-foot-1 native of Leyte could only offer his apology.
“Naiintindihan ko masama yung loob nila (Filipinos) kaya humihingi ako ng pasensiya, kasi minsan hindi mo talaga mako-control yung injury. Masakit talaga. Pinilit ko lang, nagmukha lang ako talagang tanga doon sa court,” he said of the struggle he had to go through playing with the injury.
“Pero gusto ko lang ipakita sa teammates ko na lumalaban ako kahit may nararamdaman,” Bolick added. “Ngayon kahit masakit pinilit ko lang. Adrenaline na lang yun.”
His scoring explosion helped Gilas make it to the win column in Group C at 1-1 in a tie with Bahrain and kept alive its bid for a place in the quarterfinals.
After Sunday’s break, Gilas returns to action on Monday against vengeful China in a rematch of their 2022 semifinals in Hangzhou.
“Enjoy muna namin ngayon (win over Kazkakhstan) pero marami pang trabahuhin para sa Monday,” said Bolick of the Philippines showdown against the undefeated Team Dragon.
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