MANILA, Philippines – In his first game back as a PBA head coach, multi-time champion Jong Uichico received a fitting welcome gift from his superstar Robert Bolick.
Bolick finished with a near triple-double as the NLEX Road Warriors thrashed the Blackwater Bossing, 104-87, to open their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup campaign at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Thursday, August 22.
Anticipated as one of the four-point line’s biggest beneficiaries, Bolick tallied 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 11 assists, dedicating his performance to Uichico, who returned to a head coaching job after more than eight years.
“We wanted to give coach Jong his first win since it has been quite a while since he last coached,” said Bolick in Filipino.
“I hope it’s not the only one,” Uichico then quipped.
Uichico, who holds the fourth-most PBA titles among coaches with nine, last coached in 2016 with the Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters from 2014 to 2016, where he won the 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup championship.
NLEX import Myke Henry also impressed in his PBA debut, tallying 31 points and 10 rebounds to control the tempo for the Road Warriors, who led by as many as 27 points in the third quarter.
However, the Road Warriors had to stave off a 13-0 fourth-quarter run by the Bossing, who trimmed the lead to 11 with under three minutes left.
Robbie Herndon and Richie Rodger then drilled two corner triples to preserve the win for the Road Warriors.
“They had a run, but that’s just the way the game is. We should know how to break that kind of run. We break it, but still, I think we weren’t able to break the run as soon as I wanted to,” said Uichico.
Herndon and Rodger capitalized on Bolick’s playmaking with 12 and 10 points, respectively, built off six triples combined.
On the other hand, Blackwater dropped their second straight game to start the conference, adding questions to the caliber of import Ricky Ledo, who again underdelivered with 6 points on 2-of-15 shooting from the field.
Ledo, a former NBA player with the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks, only tallied 12 points on a lackluster 4-of-23 clip in his first game versus Rain or Shine.
This year’s second overall pick Sedrick Barefield put up 16 markers and 11 assists for his second outing as a PBA player, while Christian David and Troy Rosario added 17 points each in Blackwater’s loss.
NLEX joined Rain or Shine and the San Miguel Beermen with a 1-0 card in the Group B standings.
NLEX 104 – Henry 31, Bolick 24, Herndon 12, Rodger 10, Semerad 8, Valdez 6, Policarpio 5, Fajardo 5, Amer 3, Nieto 0, Pascual 0.
Blackwater 87 – David 17, Rosario 17, Barefield 16, Tungcab 6, Kwekuteye 6, Ledo 6, Chua 5, Ponferrada 4, Hill 4, Montalbo 2, Casio 2, Guinto 2, Suerte 0.
Quarters: 23-22, 51-37, 84-62, 104-87.
– Rappler.com
