RR Pogoy did not let the adversity of losing Bol Bol to an injury affect him or TNT in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.
And even if he struggled offensively, Pogoy came through with a winning three-point shot that enabled the Tropang 5G to go up 2-1 over the Meralco Bolts despite an all-Filipino lineup.
“Sobrang sama ng shooting ko tapos yung pumasok pa yung pangpanalo kaya sobrang sarap sa pakiramdam,” Pogoy said after finishing with nine points on 3-of-12 shooting in TNT’s 77-75 victory in Game 3.
His heroics played a huge role in being selected as the PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period of May 20 to 24.
That stretch actually saw Pogoy register 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.3 assists as TNT moved two wins shy of advancing to the Finals for the fifth straight conference.
TNT’s locals were put into a challengjng role after Bol suffered an Achilles injury in the Tropang 5G’s Game 2 loss and being forced to play all-Filipino in Game 3 when emergency replacement Malick Diouf couldn’t secure necessary documents in time.
“Sobrang proud ako sa team namin kasi wala kaming import, lumaban pa din kami,” said Pogoy as TNT looks to put Meralco in a deeper hole with new reinforcement Chris McCullough.
Pogoy was chosen by Press Corps members covering the PBA beat for the weekly citation over the Barangay Ginebra duo of Scottie Thompson and RJ Abarrientos.
