Roger Pogoy has suffered one too many heartbreaks at the hands of San Miguel that he simply didn’t want to go through that kind of pain again.
On Sunday night, the two-way specialist fired 27 points to power TNT past the Beermen, 97-79, in Game Seven of the 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.
“Motivated talaga ako ngayon na sana man lang, kahit isa lang, kahit ngayon lang, makabawi kami,” he said after the win at the DHVSU Gym in Bacolor.
Prior to the rousing win, Pogoy has not won a playoff series against the league’s winningest team since joining the league back in 2016.
To be exact, he and the Tropang Giga were 0-6 against the former all-Filipino dynasty in the last half-decade. Their last defeat was in 2019 when they bowed in six games in the Commissioner’s Cup finale.
The last time the flagship MVP franchise beat its corporate rivals, you wonder, was in 2013. There, it swept the team then known as the Petron Blaze Boosters in the quarterfinals of the mid-season conference.
“Sa five years ko sa PBA, palagi kaming natatalo talaga sa playoffs sa San Miguel,” he said.
“Sobrang daming motivation heading into this game.”
That he turned in his best performance of the conference thus far was definitely more than enough proof of how motivated Pogoy was.
The 6-foot-2 guard shot 52-percent from the field, including 4-of-6 from deep. He also collected two rebounds and two assists in over 38 minutes.
This comes after a lowly six-point showing in Game Six last Friday, where they could’ve closed the series out but suffered a 103-90 loss instead. For Pogoy, he got his groove simply by focusing on his calling card ever since: defense.
“Sa totoo lang, sinasabihan ako ni Coach na hindi ako mag-focus sa offense ko kasi ‘yun nga, dati kinukuha niya ako sa Gilas dahil sa depensa ko,” said the FEU product, who had two points back in Game Four last Sunday.
“Tapos ‘yung offense, susunod lang daw ‘yan. So ‘yun, focus ko, depensa lang talaga kay Terrence [Romeo], kay Marcio [Lassiter]. Blessed lang talaga na dumating din ‘yung offense ko,” he added.
Well, the former Rookie of the Year really did damage through his defense. He helped hold sniper Marcio Lassiter lay a big fat egg as he went 0-for-8, while Romeo only had nine points before leaving due to an apparent injury.
Now, Pogoy and the Tropa will have their sights on Magnolia, whom they will face in the best-of-seven titular bout next week.
“Kung mas mahirap ang San Miguel, siguro sa Finals, mas mahirap pa,” he offered.
“‘Yung Magnolia kalabanin namin. Ang ganda ng tinakbo nila ngayon, May dahilan kung bakit nasa Finals sila, so mahirap talaga sila kalabanin.”
