PBA: ACL surgery sidelines Robert Bolick for six months

By Jonas Terrado

NorthPort guard Robert Bolick will be out for at least six months after undergoing surgery due to a right ACL tear that ended a PBA rookie campaign highlighted by a stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA World Cup.

His agent Marvin Espiritu said Bolick will begin rehab as soon as he fully recovers from the operation performed by orthopedic surgeon Raul Canlas Wednesday morning.

The former NCAA star out of San Beda suffered the injury last Oct. 23 when the Batang Pier defeated the San Miguel Beermen 127-119 in their PBA Governors’ Cup duel at the Cuneta Astrodome.

“Sabi niya he will undergo rehab as soon as mabigyan na siya ng go-ahead signal, then he will go sa States sa December to visit his family and continue his rehab there,” Espiritu told the Bulletin.

“He’s in high spirits and hindi pa din nawawala confidence niya,” added Espiritu. “He knows he’ll be back stronger.”

Team manager Bonnie Tan confirmed in the wee hours of Wednesday Bolick’s injury which came while going for a layup with 8:06 remaining in the fourth quarter of NorthPort’s match against San Miguel.

The injury also ruled Bolick out of the men’s 3×3 competitions for the Southeast Asian Games which the country will host Nov. 30 to Dec. 11. Bolick was named to the 12-man pool last month.

“Robert Bolick suffered a partial ACL tear in his last game against SMB,” Tan said in a statement. “To address the ACL tear, Bolick opted to go through surgery rather than rehab to ensure full recovery.”

“The Batang Pier Team will play without him for the next six months,” added Tan.

The injury put a disappointing conclusion to a season that saw Bolick live up to his billing as the third overall pick in last year’s PBA Rookie Draft.

Bolick scored 26 points in his first game last January but had a series of inconsistent games in the Philippine Cup to produce 10.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists in the eliminations.

Robert Bolick suffered a partial ACL tear in his last game against SMB. To address the ACL tear, Bolick opted to go through surgery rather than rehab to ensure full recovery. The Batang Pier Team will play without him for the next 6 months.

— Bonnie Tan (@bonnie_t_tan) October 29, 2019

He scored 24 points, including a go-ahead three with under a minute to go that eventually gave NorthPort a 100-97 win over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and a berth in the quarterfinals.

“Sabi ko this is not the NCAA. PBA to. Kailangan makipag palitan ka ng mukha rito,” NorthPort coach Pido Jarencio said of Bolick after that early-April game. “Wag kang matakot, gwapo ka naman eh, kaya ok lang kahit makpagpalitan ka. Kaya sabi ko maging aggressive ka.”

Bolick followed Jarencio’s instructions to the letter in the Commissioner’s Cup, producing 17.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists as NorthPort finished second in the elims with a franchise-best 9-2 mark.

But the Batang Pier blew a twice-to-beat advantage against the eventual champion Beermen, with Bolick falling short of several chances to win the game in the dying seconds of the do-or-die match.

“I think I really did pretty well sa endgame. I had a bad game, but I kept fighting. Ganun talaga yun. Binigay ko lang talaga lahat,” said Bolick after the eliminations from the midseason conference.

His improved play caught the attention of then-Gilas coach Yeng Guiao, who gave him a spot in Gilas’ World Cup roster.

He averaged 8.6 points during the team’s winless campaign in China, showing little fear against crack teams like Italy and Serbia.

“Dami kong natutunan,” Bolick disclosed during Gilas’ group stage campaign in Foshan. “Hopefully, yung mga natutunan ko sana pa-angat ako ng pa-angat.”

He was left out of consideration for the SEA Games roster due to current Gilas coach Tim Cone’s focus on familiarity and experience, but was included instead to the 12-man pool for the 3×3 event.

Bolick averaged 12.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in seven games this conference before the injury.

Source: Manila Bulletin