Robert Bolick could have victoriously capped off his Monday night with the Most Valuable Player plum and the 2017 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup title all in his hands, but it went the other way around.
The Cignal-San Beda HD Hawkeyes were just a win away from clinching the conference title, but the Racal Tile Masters had other things in mind and stunned them, 100-90, to force a sudden death.
And with the HD Hawkeyes’ loss, the 21-year-old conference MVP holds himself accountable for botching the golden opportunity they had.
“Kasalanan ko,” rued the incoming Bedan senior, moments after a lengthy huddle in Cignal’s locker room at the Filoil Flying V Centre. “Hindi kasalanan ng team ko, kasi ‘di ako dumepensa.
“Pinagmukha kong tanga yung coaches namin kasi ‘di ko ginawa game plan. Pinagmukha kong tanga yung teammates ko kasi ‘di ako naging leader sa team. Yung laro na ‘to, kasalanan ko.”
“Naka-score lang ng naka-score sila Rey [Nambatac] at [Kent] Salado. Defender ako pero naka-score sila ng ganon,” added Bolick, referring to the performances of the backcourt tandem, who scored 24 and 15 respectively.
What made the loss more sour, according to the Leyte native, was that the team felt they had let a lot of people down, including top boss Manny V. Pangilinan and the 2017 PSL Invitational Cup champions Cignal HD Spikers, who were in attendance to give out their support.
“Ayaw namin sana siya papasukin kasi talo, nakakahiya kasi andyan na. Volleyball team namin nag-champion tapos pinahiya namin sila. Dami naming pinahiya ngayon,” lamented Bolick.
With the tough setback Cignal have absorbed, Bolick promised to get back at the Tile Masters in the deciding Game Three set on Thursday to finally seal the deal and take what they could have had last Monday night.
“Pinagtatawanan nila kami kaya babawi kami sa Game Three. Manood kami sa tape kung ano mali. We’ll come back stronger,” vowed Bolick.
