AN unexpected gift of good fortune landed on the lap of TNT after Ginebra forced a deciding Game 7 against San Miguel, giving the Tropang 5G several days of rest, an important development as it will give some of its injured stars a few more days to recover.
SMB and Ginebra will meet on Wednesday to decide which team will play TNT for the Philippine Cup championship. Because of that, the start of the PBA Finals will have been moved to Sunday.
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Calvin Oftana and RR Pogoy are among the players who will benefit from the respite, having been dealing with injuries during the semifinals which TNT concluded in six games following its 97-89 win over Rain or Shine.
Oftana recently sprained both of his ankles during Game 4, and the swelling has not fully subsided when assessed on Monday. The break, naturally, was welcome news for Oftana.
“At least, mapahinga ko na rin ‘yung paa ko,” said Oftana. “Medyo bugbog na kasi. Gamot na lang ‘yung lumalaban. Pero no excuses. Nandito tayo para sa basketball. Mahal natin ang basketball. Siyempre, at the end of the day, basketball pa rin ito.”
Though playing with injuries, Oftana still found a way to lead his team in scoring during the semifinals with an average of 19.67 points a game. He also averaged 6.83 rebounds and 1.67 assists.
What kept him going, Oftana said, were the efforts of TNT's rehab team plus a slew of medicines. “Tatlong gamot na iniinom ko,” Oftana revealed.
Between the two, Pogoy will get the longer respite. He already had missed four games as he deals with a hamstring injury.
Pogoy, who averaged 19.5 points in the two games that he played in the series, admitted he has been praying hard for TNT to finish the series on Sunday, if not, he said, he might be forced to play Game 7.
Thankfully, the series ended early.
“Dasal nga ako ng dasal na manalo kami ngayon kasi nalaman namin na sa Sunday (‘yung finals) so malaking factor sa akin, malaking bagay. One week na makapahinga ako. So tignan natin,” Pogoy added.
Although he has not participated in physical activities, Pogoy said he has resumed shooting drills. On Monday while TNT was on a break, Pogoy worked out and did some weights.
Pogoy said he can’t wait to play, which he hopes would finally come on Sunday in Game 1.
“Dasal nga ako ng dasal na, ‘Lord, sana makabalik ako, makalaro na uli.’ Hirap panoorin ‘yung makikita mo ‘yung kakampi mo na talagang nagtatrabaho tapos ikaw, nasa upuan ka lang.”
“Ang iniisip ko ngayon, pahinga and Game 1,” Pogoy said.
Also, Pogoy has to thank Ginebra by beating SMB in Game 6 that gave him extra days of recovery.
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