Roger Pogoy was apologetic even after TNT carved out a tight victory over San Miguel in their 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals opener on Sunday night.
The two-way guard attended the postgame presser together with coach Chot Reyes for earning Player of the Game honors in the Tropang Giga’s 86-84 win, but was hardly in the mood to celebrate as he said sorry for taunting their foes.
“Maganda ‘yung laro ko, pero may nagawa ako na ‘yun ang pinaka-hate namin sa team namin. May isang instance doon na lumabas ‘yung dila ko, so nag-sorry talaga ako,” he at the Willie Cabales Hall of the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Pati kay Marcio [Lassiter], nag-sorry ako, kay Chris Ross. ‘Yun ang pinaka-ayaw sa team talaga namin eh. So parang nadala ako sa emotion. Nag-sorry ako kila Kuya Jayson [Castro], kila Coach Chot,” he added.
His mentor, on the other hand, lauded the accountability shown by Pogoy, but not before sharing that he almost took him out of the game for that.
“Muntik na siyang umuwi noon,” said the PBA’s only six-time Coach of the Year. “Sinave lang siya ng mga teammates niya.
“Our players know that that’s a no-no in our team. You see our players, ‘pag naka-shoot sila, walang gumaganon, walang gumaganon. Bawal talaga sa amin. It’s good na si Roger na ang nagsabi,” he added.
Nonetheless, Pogoy was a huge reason for the triumph. He fired 10 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter, where he joined hands with backcourt partner Mikey Williams in turning the tides after being down by 15 in the first half.
“Unang-una, focused talaga ako sa depensa ko. Tapos ‘yun nga, blessings ni Lord na nakukuha ko ‘yung rhythm ko, nashu-shoot ko ‘yung mga three-points ko. ‘Yun kasi ‘yung binibigay nila,” said the FEU product, who fired four treys.
TNT now leads the series 1-0 but the challenge gets bigger for the reigning champions from hereon, especially with Reyes set to leave the team for two games to fulfill his Gilas Pilipinas duties in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
Pogoy knows how tough it will be but he and the other Tropa are embracing such, with all of them aiming to, of course, keep the crown.
“Bini-build talaga kami ni coach dito. ‘Yun nga, alam naman natin na pandemic ngayon. ‘Di natin alam kung sino ‘yung mawawala. So, ready lang kami kung sino lang talaga andoon,” he said.
“But ‘yun nga, maglalaro lang kami talaga, para sa team namin. Para din kay coach,” the Cebuano cager closed.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
