THEY used to be teammates and best buddies at TNT.
But on Sunday night, Roger Pogoy and Mikey Williams found themselves taking on each other as the Tropang 5G and Converge FiberXers duke it out in a PBA Governors Cup game played under a playoff atmosphere at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The 34-year-old Pogoy admitted hating the feeling of going up against his close pal, who he described as very deadly.
“Sobrang galing. Ang hirap bantayan,” he said of the Fil-Am shooting guard, who shared the backcourt with Pogoy at TNT from 2021-2023.
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During that span, Williams won two championships with the franchise, was a two-time Finals MVP, a Mythical First and Second Team selection, and adjudged Rookie of the Year in Season 46.
Pogoy and Williams forged a close friendship during their time together especially since it was the two of them who take on each other in practices.
“Ako yung taga-bantay niya (Williams) during practices. Kaya nga ang hirap bantayan,” he said.
The two had a close bond before that when Williams was holed out in the US at the height of his bitter contract negotiations with TNT management, Pogoy wore the playing jersey of the Los Angeles, California native during pre-game warm-up.
The occasion was caught on video and went viral.
“Oo, idol ko kasi talaga siya,” said Pogoy when reminded about that social media post.
Now no longer teammates, Pogoy and Williams had some friendly banter during and after the game which Converge won in overtime, 114-112.
“Kulitan lang. Sinasabi lang namin dati magkakampi tayo, pero ngayon magkalaban na,” said Pogoy when asked by Spin.ph what the chitchat was all about.
“Pero ganun naman sa basketball. Hindi mo masasabi kung ngayon mag-teammate kayo, pero bukas hindi na.”
Pogoy won the match-up, finishing with 12 points and three rebounds on the night he was formally honored after becoming the 38th players in PBA history to achieve 500 steals.
Williams meanwhile, had a quiet three points and four rebounds. But he did win the war as Converge (8-4) edged out TNT (7-5) for the No. 3 seed in Group A.
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