ANTIPOLO – Roger Pogoy was quickly opposed by no less than TNT head coach Jojo Lastimosa upon offering his thoughts after another solid outing that ultimately enabled his side to spring back in the PBA Governors’ Cup Friday.
The 30-year-old starred in the Tropang Giga’s 93-85 win over Magnolia with 20 points on a 50-percent clip and that outing, he said, was simply him taking advantage of the defense and focusing more on his teammates.
“Credit din talaga sa mga teammates ko kasi magagaling yung mga teammates ko, siguro naka-focus sa kanila yung depensa kaya nao-open din ako,” he said.
But right after answering came the cage legend turned bench tactician, who disagreed with the star guard — all in good nature, of course.
“I disagree. Hindi siya nao-open. Siya ‘yung hinahanap namin,” said Lastimosa, who’s also serving as TNT’s team manager.
Taking a look at the numbers, Pogoy has so far been the Tropa’s most consistent guy this conference. After Friday’s match, the former Rookie of the Year is averaging 21.0 points on 55-percent shooting from the field.
Yet he continues to deflect the credit to others, and Lastimosa himself knows that Pogoy will always do so simply because he’s that humble.
(C) PBA Images
“Si Roger, he is humble. We’ve come a long way with Roger in FEU and he knows that it is through hard work na nandito siya ngayon,” said the former FEU Tamaraws assistant coach. “Nagpapasalamat ‘yan si Roger.”
Not only does he see the Cebuano cager in that manner but Lastimosa believes, too, that he’s ‘probably the best’ two-way guy in the PBA today.
“Right now, Roger is probably the best two-way player in the league,” said the 58-year-old, who’s been with the ball club since June 2022. “Sinasabi niya lang yan, depensa, depensa, but his offense is humming right now.
“Pabayaan mo na siya magpa-humble. Mali siya,” he added with a smile.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
