ROGER Pogoy hopes the back injury that kept him out of the endgame of TnT Katropa’s thrilling 97-96 win over Magnolia won’t be serious enough to hold him back from suiting up in the semifinals of the PBA Governors Cup and the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
The Cebuano gunner came down with the injury with 57 seconds left in the game and the Katropa trailing, 93-96.
Pogoy said he just felt some pain in his back when he dove for a loose ball, which later was aggravated after he tried to block the shot of Magnolia big man Ian Sangalang.
“Biglang sumakit siya,” said the TnT stalwart, who initially couldn’t stand and walk on the way to the dugout shortly after the game that a stretched was on a standby at the side of the Katropa bench.
But after being given a pain reliever, Pogoy was able to walk on his own but with an obvious limp as he made his way out of the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
He describes the pain he felt as something between seven and eight when asked on a scale of 1 to 10.
“Nung uminom ako ng gamot medyo nawala naman. Pero kailangan talagang pumunta sa hospital para ma-check,” he said.
Pogoy finished with eight points and seven rebounds and played solid down the stretch as the Katropa rallied from 18 points down, including a 96-87 deficit with 3:16 left.
Initial assessment on the injury, according to Pogoy, is either a strained back or back spasm.
The season-ending meet goes on a break starting Thursday to give way to the country’s hosting of the SEA Games, but Pogoy wouldn’t have that luxury as he’s part of the Gilas Pilipinas team out to defend the gold in the men’s basketball competitions.
Pogoy hopes the injury is not that severe to keep him away from playing with the national team.
“Tingnan na lang muna natin yung result ng check-up,” he said.
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