MANILA, Philippines—Robert Bolick has flourished in the NorthPort backcourt that he rightfully inherited and his hard work was duly recognized.
The 23-year-old rookie was nothing short of magnificent for the Batang Pier, putting up 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in their victories against Rain or Shine and Blackwater to earn him the PBA Press Corps-Cignal Player of the Week honor for June 17-23.
NorthPort traded away franchise player Stanley Pringle, a five-time All-Star and the 2018 Scoring Champion, on June 18 in exchange for Barangay Ginebra’s Sol Mercado, Kevin Ferrer, and Jervy Cruz.
“I wanted to play with him (Pringle) longer, but just in the one conference that we played together I’ve learned so much from him,” said Bolick of Pringle in Filipino. “Whatever I have now, I learned from him.”
Bolick, though, wasn’t the only Batang Pier to contend for the honor with teammates Sean Anthony and Moala Tautuaa also getting the nod as candidates.
Anthony averaged 18 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in the two games NorthPort played this week while Tautuaa played his part to the tune of 21 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Tautuaa also had a career game in NorthPort’s 107-105 win over TNT when he put up 34 points with 11 rebounds and two steals.
The other contenders for the Player of the Week plum were TNT’s Jayson Castro and Roger Pogoy, San Miguel’s Alex Cabagnot, Magnolia’s Paul Lee, and NLEX’ Jericho Cruz.