After going off for 26 points in NorthPort Batang Pier’s 117-91 victory over Blackwater in his PBA debut last January 16, Robert Bolick struggled to even come close to matching his output in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup.
Luckily, he has the decorated Pido Jarencio as his head coach. The latter was able to pinpoint the root cause behind the celebrated San Beda product’s so-so outings, so he decided to sit down with him and discuss the issue.
“Sinabi ko naman sa kanya eh, na maging aggressive siya. Both offense and defense. Kasi medyo nagre-relax ka eh,” Jarencio said. “Sabi ko, ‘this is not the NCAA. PBA ‘to. Kailangan makipag-palitan ka ng mukha rito.’ Yun.
“‘Wag kang matakot. Gwapo ka naman eh, kaya okay lang kahit makipagpalitan ka,” Jarencio added jokingly. “Kaya sabi ko maging aggressive ka. Ang sikreto sa PBA, maging aggressive ka, makita nilang palaban ka, may diskarte ka.
“‘Di pwedeng he-heistate hesitate ka rito. Pagka ganyan ka, ‘di ka tatagal.”
It seems Bolick has taken those lessons to heart. And come their last assignment in the Philippine Cup’s elimination round versus crowd favorites Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Wednesday night, the rookie showed that he has learned.
The 23-year-old went off for 24 points, including the cold-blooded trey with 52.9 seconds left that turned a two-point deficit to a one-point lead. He also added five assists, three rebounds, and a steal to lead NorthPort to a 100-97 win.
After that outing, Bolick expressed his heartfelt gratitude – not only for Jarencio but Stanley Pringle as well, whom Bolick said he has looked up to from the moment he became a Batang Pier.
Bolick even shared that he and Pringle had had a chance to talk about the team for several hours during the 2019 PBA All-Star Weekend in Calasiao, Pangasinan recently, where they were involved in the RSJ and All-Star Games, respectively.
“Parati naman akong kinakausap ni Coach Pido. Sinasabi lang naman stay aggressive, play your game,” he said. “Napaka-swerte ko na binibigyan niya ako ng minutes kahit on and off yung laro ko. Napaka-swerte ko na ganun.
“Siguro dun talaga umangat yung kumpiyansa ko sa All-Star Game. Me and Stanley, we talked, siguro mga eight hours. Pinag-usapan namin about sa team,” Bolick added. “Siya lang talaga yung nilu-look up ko eh. Ibang klase si Stanley on and off the court. Yung pagmamahal niya sa basketball, how passionate he is, dun ko nakukuha lahat.
“Sabi ko, sige Wednesday, pakita ko sa kanya na deserving naman ako na ka-backcourt ko siya. Lahat ng laro from now on dahil kay Stanley. ‘Di ko na sasabihin mga pinag-usapan namin, pero napaka-swerte ko na teammate ko siya.”
But beyond his own outing, Bolick is more relieved that the Batang Pier are a guarantee in the quarterfinals. Before this, they nearly got booted out when they lost six straight games after starting the tilt 2-0.
“‘Di namin binaba yung ulo namin. We just played one game at a time tapos ngayon naging ganito kami, 5-6,” said Bolick, who had won four collegiate titles. “Pagdating ng playoffs, bibigay lang namin yung best namin.”
