CLARK FREEPORT – Poy Erram was left to rue what he described as a 'negative' debut with TnT Tropang Giga.
“Ang sama ng laro ko,” said the big man the morning after he became the first player to be called for a flagrant foul 1 and eventually, also the first to be ejected in the PBA bubble during the Tropang Giga’s Philippine Cup win over Alaska on Sunday night at the Angeles University Foundation gym.
Erram was ejected with 20 seconds left in the third quarter after being given a technical foul for second motion. It was his second T for the game following an FF1 he committed with five minutes to go in the opening period.
He finished with only four points (1-3 field goal), but had eight rebounds and six assists in 16 minutes of play in his TnT debut. The first of those dish-offs resulted in Roger Pogoy scoring the first of his career-high 45 points.
But the 6-foot-8 Erram admitted he could've done more had he not made the mistake of letting his emotions take the better of him.
“Mali yung ginawa ko. Nahirapan yung team dahil dun,” he said.
Good thing, Pogoy and veteran Jayson Castro took charge down the stretch and steered the Tropang Giga to a 100-95 victory.
Head coach Bong Ravena had a piece of advice to the 31-year-old big man, a prized catch during the off-season for the Tropang Giga in their bid to end a long title drought.
“Nafru-frustrate siya,” said Ravena of his center. “He needs to be patient and he needs to adjust. Hindi naman namin siya pababayaan.”
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