By CARLO ANOLIN
TNT’s Roger Pogoy came through with a monstrous performance in his debut game in the PBA bubble that left everybody almost in awe.
Pogoy scored a career-high of 45 points as he waxed hot from beyond the arc with 10 threes to go with eight rebounds as the Tropang Giga edged the Alaska Aces 100-95 in the resumption of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center in Clark, Pampanga.
Pogoy’s hot-shooting was key to TNT’s victory, dropping five three-pointers for a 48-deadlock before the end of second half. Due to Pogoy’s herculean effort, netizens cannot help but compare him to several NBA stars who shone bright as well during the bubble season.
Pogoy’s awe-inspiring performance had made some experts compare him to the likes of Suns’ Devin Booker, Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard and Heat’s Jimmy Butler. It can be recalled that these players made waves in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida.
Take Booker for instance, led Phoenix to a perfect 8-0 record in the bubble. Although the Suns didn’t make it to the playoffs due to final seedings, Booker cemented his name as one of the youngest stars in the league.
Lillard, meanwhile, averaged 51.3 points per game with nine assists in a three-game run and a bubble-high of 37.6 points and 9.6 assists. Butler was also phenomenal, especially in the Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 29 points in five games, 40 coming from a Game 3 victory and 35 from winning Game 5.
One of the few personalities who took notice of Pogoy’s performance was former TNT and Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes.
“Buckets, is that you? Grabe ka @rogerpogz16,” Reyes tweeted Sunday, with the TNT gunner thanking the former national team mentor.
Senator Joel Villanueva, former player of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, also called Pogoy a “scoring machine” in a Tweet reply to PBA’s box score.
Per PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon III, Pogoy joined Eric Menk, Asi Taulava, Mark Caguioa, Sol Mercado and Stanley Pringle in an elite company of local players who scored at least 45 points in the PBA since 2000.
The 28-year-old Cebuano cager and PBA great Allan Caidic were the only players in PBA history to convert at least 10 three-pointers in a game twice, Mangonon added.
With the recent feat, the former Far Eastern University standout also became just the fifth player in PBA history to have three games of at least eight threes.
