Robert Bolick and the NLEX Road Warriors are semis-bound after dismantling the Phoenix Fuel Masters on Saturday to end their PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals clash on a smashing high.
For NLEX coach Jimmy Alapag, though, this is just the beginning for the Road Warriors. And it could be an even longer road ahead if Bolick takes that next step as a leader, says the legendary guard now manning the NLEX sideline as a rookie coach.
“I think this is just the beginning,” Alapag told reporters after the Road Warriors’ emphatic series ender at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. “I think Berto is just now scratching the surface, not just as a player. I think we all know that he’s been one of the top guards in the league for quite some time. But now he’s taking that next step as a leader. We’ll need that moving forward into the next round.”
There’s no question Bolick has been one of the PBA’s very best. However, this will be the first time he will be playing in the semifinals in his now eight-year career. Back in 2019, the team that drafted him, the NorthPort Batang Pier, also made it to the semis in the Governors’ Cup, but Berto was on the inactive list after partially tearing his ACL just before the conference started.
Bolick, Rest of Road Warriors Are Dreaming Big
Now that the former San Beda Red Lion is finally playing in the semifinals stage, Alapag wants him—and the rest of the Road Warriors, for that matter—to reach for the stars, so to speak.
“Ngayon, at least, nakakapunta kami ng semis. Pero, sabi nga ni Coach [Alapag] bakit? Bakit tayo mangarap ng semis lang, kung kaya naman namin mag-finals… pangarapin na namin yung pinakamataas,” Bolick said in the same presser. “Wala namang bayad ‘yun.”
Bolick and Alapag are right. It’s free to dream big. And after accomplishing one goal after the other this Governors’ Cup, there might be reason to believe that this big dream might actually be within the Road Warriors’ reach.
Robert Bolick will have plenty to say about that, for sure.
