By REYNALD MAGALLON
As unpredictable as the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup so far, the race for the Best Player of the Conference gets ‘hotter’ with key figures from the teams that are making great stride are also taking the top spots halfway through the conference.
High-scoring NLEX guard Robert Bolick, thanks to his fiery display currently paces the league in the BPC race followed by Arvin Tolentino and rookie Stephen Holt who were both vital cogs to the resurgence of their teams NorthPort and Terrafirma in the all-Filipino conference.
Bolick surged ahead with 49.2 statistical points built on his league-best scoring of 29.5 points per game to go along with 5.8 rebounds and another league-high 7.2 assists.
His stellar performance so far is also a big reason why the Road Warriors are currently sitting at the second spot of the standings with a 5-1 record.
Coming in second was Tolentino who registered 43.6 SPs following an all-around numbers of 24 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks per outing. Holt sits at the third spot with 40.2 Ps on averages of 20.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals.
Tolentino’s NorthPort and Holt’s Terrafirma are two perennial doormat teams who are currently making a run for a spot in the quarterfinals. The Batang Pier looked comfortable at the third spot with a 4-2 record while the Dyip sports an even 4-4 record.
Rounding out the top 5 of the list are seven-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer and another surprise contender in Leonard Santillan of Rain or Shine. Fajardo amassed 37.0 SPs while Santillan collected 35.9 SPs.
The SMB giant is currently the league-leading rebounder with 12.3 boards per game to add to his 14.3 points, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocks average. Santillan, who has shown vast improvement to his game, averaged 21.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists to crack the race.
Just sitting outside the Top 5 was last conference’s BPC winner and SMB’s CJ Perez who collected 33.8 SPs, TNT’s Calvin Oftana who garnered 33.3 SPs and ROS’ Beau Belga who had 31.9 SPs.
Terrafirma star Juami Tiongson who registered 31.9 SPs and Barangay Ginebra big man Christian Standhardinger who had 31.8 SPs completed the Top 10.
In the rookie race, the top pick Holt is obviously lording the competition with NorthPort duo of Cade Flores and Zav Lucero coming in far second and third in the race. Flores collected 31.3 SPs while Lucero had 25.2 SPs, buoyed by a league-leading 1.6 blocks per game.
