Robert Bolick explodes for 26 points in his first PBA game. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Robert Bolick made quite a good first impression in his PBA debut after leading NorthPort’s rout of Blackwater, 117-91, in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Bolick, the second overall pick in last month’s draft, wasted no time in announcing his arrival in the pros, scoring 10 of his game-high 26 points in the first six minutes of the game.
“He (Bolick) really complements the team,” said NorthPort head coach Pido Jarencio in Filipino.
“He’s made for the PBA. He’s a winner and coachable, he listens,” Jarencio added.
The former San Beda ace hardly missed as he hit 10 of his 12 attempts from the field.
Paolo Taha added a career-high 21 points while Sean Anthony and Stanley Pringle, who is coming off his best PBA season where he finished second in the MVP race behind five-time winner June Mar Fajardo, had 19 and 16 points, respectively.
“We want to surpass out performance in each of the three conferences this season,” said Jarencio, whose squad wound up second to the last in the standings last conference with a 2-9 mark.
Another rookie in Abu Tratter, who was the seventh pick by NLEX before being traded to Blackwater along with Paul Desiderio in exchange for talented big man Poy Erram in the offseason, showed out with team-highs 18 points and nine rebounds.