Barangay Ginebra San Miguel look ready to walk away with an easy win in Game 3 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals. But RR Pogoy suddenly caught fire as he hit four straight triples, with one coming in the last two minutes of the third quarter and another to start the final canto.
In all, Pogoy had 28 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, and dishe out 2 assists. But it still was not enough for TNT to secure the comeback win on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Afterward, Pogoy just tipped his hat off to Ginebra, specifically its defense.
“Ang ganda ng depensa nila, aggressive sila, saka ang pangit din ng depensa namin sa first quarter kaya nagka-lamang sila ng malaki,” Pogoy told Rebanse after Game 3.
TNT Fight Back Falls Short
Much like during Game 1 of the Finals series, TNT crawled their way back into the ball game after being down. In fact, in Game 3, the Tropang 5G was able to cut the lead from 22 points to just 7 with 5:56 to go in the fourth. But Ginebra regained control and went home with the victory.
The loss, according to Pogoy, is part of basketball. But he did lament the Tropa falling behind by a big deficit as the culprit behind the loss. And for the veteran guard, trailing by a considerable margin is particularly a no-no against a team like Ginebra.
“Ganun talaga sa basketball eh, kapag tambak ka, kapag nakakahabol ka sobrang pagod, hindi ‘yung kagaya nung parehas lang kayo, so hirap talaga, lalo na Ginebra,” said the former champion of the FEU Tamaraws. “Kapag matambakan ka ng Ginebra tas habulin, talagang ang hirap eh, so dapat talaga pantay lang, huwag ka magpatambak.”
Pogoy was right as that big lead was the difference in Game 3. In the second half, TNT kept in step with Ginebra in terms of scoring as it fired 26 in the third quarter, the exact amount of points Ginebra scored. In the fourth, the Tropang 5G outscored the Gin Kings 34 to 31. But the lead was too large to overcome.
Positive Mindset for Game 4
Pogoy, however, is unperturbed by the loss and still has a positive outlook for Game 4 despite being down 2-1 in the series.
“Positive pa rin. At the end of the day, sinong maka-apat eh, hindi naman sa sinong maka-dalawa, so positive pa rin kahit anong mangyari,” said Pogoy.
Pogoy is right again. The championship series is a race to four, and Ginebra is only halway there. But if the Tropa are to prevent the Gin Kings from getting two more wins, they might need to start better.
Because as Pogoy said, it’s not a good thing to play catchup against them.
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