By REYNALD MAGALLON
NorthPort’s Robert Bolick is currently the frontrunner in the Best Player of the Conference race although not too far behind is former teammate and now Ginebra forward Jamie Malonzo at the end of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations.
Bolick holds the pole with 35.9 statistical points after averaging 21.67 points on top of his 4.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game while guiding the Batang Pier to a 6-6 record in the standings.
Malonzo, on the other hand, placed second with a 31.3 SPs builts on solid numbers of 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per outing.
Interestingly, the two are expected to battle it out for the top spot in the race when their teams figure in a best-of-three quarterfinals which begins on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
Lurking at No.3 spot however is reigning league MVP and Malonzo’s teammate Scottie Thompson who collected a total of 31SPs while Magnolia’s Jio Jalalon and San Miguel Beer’s CJ Perez round up the Top 5.
Jalalon, who leads the league in steals, finished the eliminations with a 30.4 SPs, just a hairline ahead Perez’s 30.3 SPs.
Completing the Top 10 are Don Trollano of NLEX (29.09), Arvin Tolentino of NorthPort (29.08), Javee Mocon of Phoenix (28.6), Christian Standhardinger of Ginebra (27.9), and Jeron Teng of Converge (27.8).
In the import race, NLEX Earl Clark seized the No. 1 spot at the end of the eliminations with 56.0 SPs although his chances of going all the way looked bleak following the early exit suffered by the Road Warriors.
Making strong cases for themselves and looking to claim the top spot in the playoffs are Converge’s Quincy Miller who placed second with 55.3 SPs, assists leader and Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee with 52.4 SPs and league leading rebounder and Magnolia’s Nick Rakocevic with 52.3 SPs.
