Hot-shooting Roger Pogoy, TNT make Ginebra defense pay

TNT swingman Roger Pogoy celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer against Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—In basketball, coaches would usually tell their players to take what the defense is giving them.

Roger Pogoy took that to heart.

Pogoy waxed hot, scoring 18 points, all from the three-point line, to help TNT trample Barangay Ginebra, 88-71, in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

With the Ginebra failing to react on TNT’s shooters, Pogoy took that opportunity and made the Gin Kings pay.

“I was actually surprised with their defense. It was as if they were challenging me to shoot the three,” said Pogoy in Filipino. “We were just countering what they were giving us.”

Ginebra’s defense was mainly focused on the interior, closing out on drives and preventing big man Terrence Jones to get comfortable in the paint. But the strategy left the KaTropa’s shooters to have a field day.

The KaTropa fired on all cylinders and made 16 3-pointers. With the Kings’ defense seemingly giving them the go-signal to fire away from downtown, they ended up taking 10 more shots from deep than the two-point area.

“We’ve been waiting for this kind of defense to happen,” said Pogoy, who went 6-of-13 from long distance. “We just kept it to ourselves and waited patiently for this to happen.”