By JEREMIAH SEVILLA
CLARK FREEPORT– TNT spitfire guard Roger Pogoy emerged as the first PBA Press Corps Player of the Week in the bubble after coming through with a stellar performance to anchor the Tropang Giga’s unbeaten run in the opening week of the Philippine Cup restart.
Pogoy immediately hinted of good things to come in the bubble conference opener at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center powered by Smart 5G by firing a new career-high 45 points spiked by 10 triples in TNT’s 100-95 victory over Alaska.
He also became just the fifth player to hit at least eight treys in three games.
The Gilas Pilipinas stalwart then tallied 11 points, nine rebounds and two steals as the Tropang Giga trounced Terrafirma, 112-101, last Tuesday.
The 6-foot-2 sniper played through pain due to a sprained ankle to provide ample support with 15 markers and four boards in TNT’s 107-88 thrashing of defending champion San Miguel last Friday.
In all, the 28-year-old Pogoy averaged 23.7 points built on a 44-percent three-point shooting, seven rebounds, 1.3 assists and two steals in the Tropang Giga’s 3-0 start in the bubble.
The Cebuano cager bested teammate Ray Parks Jr. and Matthew Wright of Phoenix for the weekly citation given by the members of the media covering the PBA beat.
“Hindi ko in-expect na ganito kaganda ‘yung ilalaro ko pero noong lockdown kasi kondisyon pa rin ako kaya masaya na nagbunga ‘yung pinagpaguran ko,” said Pogoy.
“Happy ako kasi maganda performance ko tapos nananalo pa ‘yung team. Pero sabi nga ng teammates ko, tuloy-tuloy lang daw. Wala pa dapat i-celebrate,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rain or Shine guard Adrian Wong grabbed the first PBAPC Rookie of the Week honors.
The Ateneo product was the first newcomer to be named Best Player of the Game after finishing with 15 points, two rebounds and two assists in the Elasto Painters’ third straight win at the expense of NorthPort, 70-68, last Sunday.
