Robert Bolick did not hide his pain when his NorthPort Batang Pier blew their twice-to-beat advantage against the more experienced San Miguel Beermen in the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, Wednesday evening.
The Batang Pier were only a minute and 51 seconds away from their first semifinal stint since 2015 when they came back from a 16-point deficit. They then posted an 86-82 lead, which was a by-product of their furious 23-3 blitz.
But Arwind Santos happened, and import Chris McCullough also came through to burst their bubble, 88-90.
“We did our best. Sakit.
“I really thought we had this game,” said the rookie out of San Beda, who had 13 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. “We were right there, four-point lead, one-point lead, just couldn’t finish the ball game.”
The stinging defeat wasted all of the Batang Pier’s effort in in this mid-season conference. Coming into the playoffs, they finished the eliminations with a franchise-best record of 9-2, enabling them to clinch the twice-to-beat advantage.
But despite the hurt, Bolick refuses to dwell on the loss. This is something they can charge to experience, he says.
“Ganun talaga. Part of the experience ng team namin. Maybe next conference diba, kaya na namin umangat sa semis,” said Bolick, who never suffered an early playoff exit during his last year in La Salle and his three years in San Beda.
And if there’s any takeaway from this, Bolick feels that they have now gotten the respect from the other teams.
“Yun ang importante, ‘di na kami pushover ngayon,” said Bolick, the third overall pick of the 2018 Rookie Draft.
“I think they respect us more now. We did not give up. Ganun talaga. Good luck na lang next conference.”
