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TNT Tropang striker Giga RR Pogoy extended his right hand to Barangay Geneva head coach Tim Cone after the Kings’ Game 4 victory in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Sunday. Cone playfully refused the handshake and then ended up giving Pogoy a hug near the center of the court.
Although they may be opponents here in the PBA bubble finals, Cone still appreciates greatness when he sees it. His team rose to the top, but did not diminish Pogoy’s attempt to bring TNT back to the ball game almost singlehandedly after trailing by 17 points in the fourth period.
“He came over to shake my hand and I said ‘I don’t want to shake your hand hard.’ I was afraid I would burn myself if I touched his hand. It was amazing, absolutely amazing,” Cone said of Pogoy.
The Barangay Geneva head coach has been known to sometimes compare the league’s current stars to the legends of yesteryear to better explain their importance to their teams. Cone often mentions Johnny Grocery’s name when talking about how Scottie Thompson impacts the game.
Cone mentioned another legend to describe what he felt as he watched Pogoy leave in the fourth quarter of Game 4.
“It’s a completely different look, but the ability to get shots and shoot with your hands to your face and the guys flying next to you is Allan Caidic,” Cone said.
“I remember Allan hitting our team once to score 70 points, so I know what it’s like to try to score Allan. He scored 70 points against us and we had imports protecting him and everyone protecting him. It was the same.”
Cone was recalling a game that happened in 1989 when Caidic lost 68 points, anchored on 15 3-pointers to lead Presto Tivoli to a 175-159 victory against the Alaska Air Force.
“It was like ‘uh oh’ every time it was open. When I took a shot, it was like ‘uh oh, it’s going to come in’ and when it doesn’t it’s a big surprise. The same thing used to be my feeling against Allan,” recalls Cone . “Allan was the same way. If it was open, you could score it before it even went over the edge.”
Pogoy scored 16 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 with three great triples late in the game. Without Ray Parks, Jr. for the third consecutive game and without Jayson Castro in the fourth period, Pogoy knew it was up to him to get TNT back in the game. And it almost did.
He finished with 34 points, four rebounds, six assists and four steals, without committing a single loss.
“It’s flattering to be compared to someone like Allan Caidic,” Pogoy said in Filipino. “What I did was not enough, but I am still proud of my team because we fought. We were very down in the fourth quarter, but we never gave up. I hope we can build on what we did in the fourth quarter heading into the next quarter. game “.
While Pogoy had another incredible performance, he knows he will have to pull off something similar in Game 5 just to help TNT survive. With Castro and Parks on a day-to-day basis, it will be up to Pogoy to lead the Tropang Giga attack.
