Roger Pogoy pushed through pain after getting hurt mere seconds into TNT’s eventual win over Converge in Saturday’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup action.
The two-way specialist caused anxiety when he went down at the 11:25-mark of the opening period, clutching onto his right leg after getting hit by the knee of a driving Cheick Diallo in an attempt to strip the ball away from the latter.
Play was stopped with 11:08 on the clock, and he had to be carried by his teammates on the way to the Tropang Giga bench.
“Sumundot ako sa bola tapos ‘yung tuhod ng import, tumama sa leg ko. Sobrang sakit. Na-charley horse ako,” Pogoy recalled of the incident.
Fortunately for the team, the 32-year-old managed to get back into the match. He was brought back after about five minutes on the sideline.
And he’d go on to play as if he didn’t get hurt. Pogoy would finish with 22 points and five rebounds to help his side escape with the 98-96 victory — and stretch their winning streak to four in the midseason conference.
“Kailangang magtrabaho eh,” he said post-game at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. “Kahit masakit, kahit may dinaramdam, kailangan magtrabaho talaga.”
Pogoy netted his conference-high in points — he came just a point shy of tying his season-high, actually — but it was his defense particularly on Alec Stockton which left Coach Chot Reyes beaming with pride.
Stockton only scored seven points on seven shots and being limited sure helped TNT end the FiberXers’ four-game winning streak.
“This guy beside me was chiefly responsible for that,” offered the champion bench tactician. “We knew there was a three-headed monster that is almost impossible to stop so… our objective was to at least neutralize two.
“But I know if we stop one, we will have a chance,” Reyes added, referring to the guard trio of Stokcton, Jordan Heading, and Deschon Winston.
Pogoy himself was proud of how the Tropa, as a whole, executed on defense, which was highlighted late in the game when they forced Converge to a 24-second shot clock violation with 9.5 seconds left to play.
“Sobrang hirap kasi ‘yung tatlo, sobrang gagaling. Napilitan talaga kami lahat. Hindi pwedeng ako lang ‘yung dumepensa, dapat buong team talaga. ‘Yun din ‘yung nagpa-champion sa amin last conference, ‘yung depensa namin.”
