Roger Pogoy honored to be part of FIBA’s MIP list

Roger Pogoy feels extremely honored to have been ranked by FIBA.com as one of the most improved players in Asia. 

The 28-year-old was among the seven players which FIBA noticed had upped their games from the Asia Cup 2017 to the 2021 Asia Cup Qualifiers’ first window.

“Sobrang honored kasi napansin nila ‘yung improvement ko,” Pogoy told Tiebreaker Times, Tuesday evening.

In the 2017 Asia Cup in Lebanon, a much-younger Pogoy averaged 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 16.7 minutes.

The Cebuano guard has since become an integral part of the national team. He was part of the Gilas crew that saw action in the 2019 World Cup in China.

Now seen as one of the team’s veterans, Pogoy was among the leaders of the Filipino dribblers in the ACQ’s first window last February.

Pogoy had a highly efficient outing, scoring 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, along with six rebounds, in nearly 23 minutes as Gilas tore Indonesia apart, 100-70.

“May nakikita na ako sa pinaghirapan ko,” humbly said the TNT KaTropa guard, who has been serving flag and country since 2016.

Also in the list were Muin Bek Hafeez of India, Iraq’s Hassan Abdullah, Maxim Marchuk of Kazakhstan, Jordan Ngatai of New Zealand, Abdelrahman Yehia Abdelhaleem of Qatar, and Syria’s Abdulwahab Alhamwi.

It is a testament to how far Pogoy has come in his career that he’s now catching attention not just here, but also internationally.

And he couldn’t help but marvel at how a kid from Talisay, Cebu has been able to realize his hoop dreams.

“Daming nagsasabi rin sa akin na sa Cebu lang daw ako magaling,” he said in the 2OT podcast presented by SMART and supported by Phenom Sportswear Inc. last June 27.

“Tiis tsaka sipag lang talaga.”