TNT’s Roger Pogoy.–PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—TNT hasn’t had a potent one-two punch since the Jimmy Alapag and Jayson Castro era.
But it seems like the Tropang Giga have found a new dynamic duo in Roger Pogoy and Calvin Oftana.
TNT turned to Pogoy and Oftana anew on Friday in taking a 116-99 win over Rain or Shine in Game 1 of their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals series at Araneta Coliseum.
“I’m very happy because me and Calvin are so close. We’re both Bisaya, we really understand each other and I’m so happy to see him bloom in this team. Calvin’s a scorer and I’m a defender,” said a giddy Pogoy after dropping 26 points and five assists.
“Me and Calvin just read off of each other because we already got together in Gilas so it’s easy to understand each other more,” he added.
Oftana, who led the Tropang Giga with 32 points on top of nine rebounds, dubbed his tandem with Pogoy as “Amigos.”
“Amigos! It’s like, ‘my friend.’ We’re the Amigos because in Bisaya, we call each other that and we speak the same language, he’s also Cebuano. That’s how we call each other now, instead of just ‘gaw,’ we call each other that”
READ: PBA: TNT pummels Rain or Shine for 1-0 quarterfinals lead
TNT’s Calvin Oftana.–PBA IMAGES
TNT, however, has proven it’s more than just a two-man squad.
“It’s not just [me and] Roger, we have games where we score a lot but we lose so we need help from our teammates and tonight, [I give] credits to everyone,” said Oftana.
“It’s part of the plan that we put together when we assembled this team to have a potent combination that’s going to be hard to stop but we’ve had games where they both scored in the high 20s and we still lost so just the both of them scoring is not enough,” said coach Chot Reyes.
The Tropang Giga got more than enough production from their other cogs with veterans Kelly Williams and Castro contributing in various ways.
Williams posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Castro collected 11 points, five assists and four rebounds. Glenn Khobuntin was also a spark for TNT.
“If we can get contributions from up and down our roster, that’s going to make their combination even more potent so as much as we love their offensive efficiency, it’s not enough to make us win unless the others do their roles.”