From college up to World Cup, Robert Bolick always proving himself

FOSHAN, China—Robert Bolick is quite a unique individual for the simple reason that he is never satisfied in life, most especially his career.

He’s been trying to prove himself at every level—from college to the D-League, to the PBA, and now, with Gilas Pilipinas as one of two rookies included in the Fiba World Cup squad.

“Always,” Bolick said, when told that he seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder every time, everywhere. “I don’t like to lose motivation, I like to look at negative comments and feed off that. That really helps me a lot.”

Bolick was cut by La Salle and was forced to take his act to San Beda where he led the Red Lions to several NCAA titles. He was drafted third overall by NorthPort in the PBA this year and has emerged as one of coach Pido Jarencio’s top go-to guys.

“You have to go through adversities to be successful,” he said.

Cast as one of the last additions to the Final 12 by coach Yeng Guiao after injuries to veteran PBA superstars hit the team, Bolick played his first three games as an international and delivered only in a way someone who wants to prove himself could.

Together with fellow rookie CJ Perez, Bolick has been one of the few bright spots for coach Yeng Guiao, and people back home certainly know now that he doesn’t need to prove

“It’s a gift from God,” said Bolick, who tweets about verses every night, every time he goes to bed, without fail, acknowledging that God is the center of his life.

Well, of course, having the Good Lord there is not all that it takes: “I just work hard, really work hard.”

He admits that he has conquered this latest challenge in his very young career after finishing Group D play Wednesday with 10 points in an 84-81 overtime loss to Angola for a 7.7-point average going into the consolation phase.

“For sure, the media, the coaches never thought that I could get here,” he said.

Very few really did.