Halfway through the 2024 Honda PBA Philippine Cup, the NLEX Road Warriors are technically on top, with their sole loss to the Terrafirma Dyip keeping the San Miguel Beermen ahead of them. Much of where they are, though, is thanks to Robert Bolick.

Bolick is currently the runaway leader in points per game in the 2024 Philippine Cup at 29.5, more than five points higher than the next player. A peek at a Road Warriors box score in the All-Filipino conference will see the 28-year old leading the charge, but beyond Anthony Semerad and Robbie Herndon, it’s anyone’s guess.

There have been five different second leading scorers for NLEX. In the Road Warriors’ 87-74 victory over the Magnolia Hotshots over the weekend, it was Semerad (22 points, game-high 10 rebounds, and two steals) who supported Bolick (game-highs of 26 points and nine assists) in helping NLEX get its league-best fifth win.

Of course, it can be said that the Road Warriors had a balanced offense as eight players apart from Bolick and Semerad scored in the win over the Hotshots, but only Herndon was close to even reaching double figures for NLEX with his nine points.

Getting scoring from nearly every player on a roster is a good thing, but for it to really make an impact with winning championships, it must be on a consistent basis. The arrival of Bolick atoned for the losses of Kiefer Ravena and Calvin Oftana, but he can’t do it all, even if his stats say otherwise.

From now until the postseason, teams will put more focus on Bolick, and given how there’s no guarantee of an offensive explosion from the rest of the Road Warriors, opponents would rather take the chance and tip their hat to whoever puts up a big scoring night. NLEX would be better off in making them pay when they do so and they have the personnel to do just that.

The likes of Semerad, Baser Amer, Dave Marcelo, and Jake Pascual all played under Frankie Lim when he was the head coach of the San Beda Red Lions. That familiarity should be an asset, but two years in, it seems like they are better complements at this point.

The Road Warriors do have a solid rookie in Enoch Valdez, who posted a career-high 19 points against the Converge FiberXers in the 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. Valdez has all the tools to be a two-way franchise piece for NLEX. That is, if they don’t plan on moving him later on.

With five games left on their elimination round schedule, the NLEX Road Warriors will have their work cut out for them, especially with the slim margins separating teams from the top and the bottom. They’ve so far been able to stay ahead of the pack thanks to Robet Bolick’s stellar play, but it may be getting to the point where their strength will have to be not with Bolick alone, but in numbers from the others.