THE warrior in Roger Pogoy prevails as he insists on playing in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals despite sustaining another case of hamstring injury.
The veteran guard said as long as he doesn’t feel any pain on the injured leg, he’s ready to suit up and see action for TNT when the best-of-seven series resumes on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“Na-strained ulit pero sobrang liit lang talaga,” said Pogoy. “Walang takot-takot. Mawala lang yung sakit lalaro ako.”
Recurring Pogoy injury
The 33-year-old Far Eastern University product re-injured the same hamstring that grounded him in the latter part of the semifinals series against Barangay Ginebra and the early stages of the finals against San Miguel.
Projected to be ready by the middle stretch of the title series, Pogoy was already up and about in Game 3 and played for close to 18 minutes in the team’s 95-89 loss.
Not long after, the injury hounded with him again in Wednesday night’s game at the Mall of Asia Arena as he limped his way back to the TNT bench early in the second quarter when his hamstring acted up again.
By his own admission, the injury was not yet fully healed.
“Hindi pa talaga fully healed. pinilit ko lang talaga kasi gusto ko talagang maglaro,” said Pogoy. “Ayaw kong iwan yung team ko na sila lang ang maglalaro. Kaya Game 3 sinabi ko (lalaro ako).”
Coach Chot Reyes was actually wary about Pogoy’s situation.
“Tinanong nga ako ni coach Chot, ‘Ano ba kaya mo?’ Baka bumigay yan.’”
“Pero sabi ko, 'Oo, kaya kong ilaro ito.' Ako talaga ang nagpilit na gusto kong maglaro.”
Prior to leaving Game 4, Pogoy helped TNT grab an early huge lead on the way to a 110-87 blowout that evened the finals at 2-2.
The morale-boosting win was a relief for the Tropang 5G, according to Pogoy.
“Malaking bagay kasi kung nabaon kami (3-1) mahirap na,” he said. “Kailangan tatlong sunod na panalo. So at least nagkaron ng kumpiyansa na nakatabla naman kami.
“Pero hind pa tapos ito. At least nanalo ngayon (Game 4), yun ang importante.”
Pogoy is aching to get back in action and finish the series that he’ll try to convince the team to let him play once he doesn’t feel any pain going to Friday’s match.
“Hindi ko alam kung papayag sila (TNT). Pero kung ako, at ma-feel ko lang na walang sakit, lalaro ako,” he said.
And what if its lead physical therapist Dexter Aseron tells him not to play? Pogoy said he’s willing to compromise.
“Pag-usapan namin (Dexter) yan,” a smiling Pogoy said.
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