Roger Pogoy (left) triggered TNT’s breakaway against Barangay Ginebra in Game 1. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
For about five tense minutes on Friday night, TNT looked stuck, uneasy under the lights of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals. Then Roger Pogoy got going.
Three consecutive three-pointers from Pogoy snapped TNT out of its funk, helping the team shake off an early slump and seize control of Game 1 against Barangay Ginebra. By the ultimate buzzer, Pogoy had tallied 15 points, second only to import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s 34, as TNT secured a 95-89 victory at Mall of Asia Arena.
The muse for the win, nevertheless, was laid long before the opening tip.
“It’s big that we were in a position to practice here yesterday,” Pogoy said, crediting a late-night shooting session with teammates Almond Vosotros and Ping Exciminiano.
Even before that, the seeds of confidence had been planted earlier within the week. On Tuesday, Pogoy and a number of team staffers visited Jayson Castro in Guagua, Pampanga, where the injured TNT stalwart offered an easy but resonant message: “Don’t be afraid. Just play your game.”
That encouragement carried over to the sport, with Pogoy, Calvin Oftana and Rey Nambatac vowing to step up in Castro’s absence. “We told one another that we cannot afford to have a nasty game. We’re really needed,” Pogoy said.
Experimental rotations
The strategy worked. TNT’s hot shooting—14 three-pointers, twice as many as Ginebra’s—allowed the team to construct an 18-point lead at its peak. Hollis-Jefferson, who had 23 points in the primary half alone, provided the within presence, while Pogoy’s shooting opened up the ground.
Ginebra, nevertheless, refused to go quietly.
Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson each delivered double-doubles, and head coach Tim Cone experimented with different rotations, notably giving prolonged minutes to Jeremiah Gray within the fourth quarter. But their efforts weren’t enough to erase TNT’s lead.
“I’m kinda uninterested in saying we were outplayed and outcoached,” Cone admitted postgame. “We got to alter the narrative.”
Maintaining momentum
That can be the goal heading into Game 2 on Sunday. Ginebra will need to search out a approach to decelerate Hollis-Jefferson, disrupt TNT’s perimeter shooting and get more production from key players. Troy Rosario, Jamie Malonzo and RJ Abarrientos all struggled offensively, and the Gin Kings will need contributions across the board to level the series.
For TNT, the challenge can be maintaining its momentum.
“We’ve got to be higher,” Hollis-Jefferson said, wary of Ginebra’s ability to regulate. “[We should] not let the lead drop, not let those mental lapses take over the sport.”
TNT head coach Chot Reyes emphasized the importance of effort. “They’re really working doubly hard to make it difficult for the opposite team. We know the way offensively potent that squad is,” he said.
The series resumes on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena, with TNT trying to tighten its grip on the championship while Ginebra goals to flip the script.
