MANILA – Roger Pogoy thanked his Gilas Pilipinas teammates for not leaving him behind during a brawl with Australian players in their 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers match on Monday.
Pogoy was on the receiving end of a forceful elbow from Australia Boomers’ Daniel Kickert. He said he was glad his national team colleagues were there to defend him.
“Nagpapasalamat ako at hindi ako iniwan ng mga brothers ko. Mga totoo silang kaibigan, hindi plastic,” Pogoy said during a dinner for the Gilas players Tuesday night.
Pogoy admitted he failed to control his emotions over the cheap shots and trash talk of Australia’s Kickert and Chris Goulding from the warm-ups until the game proper.
“Tao lang din tayo. Napuno din ako,” he said. “Binangga ko rin si Goulding pero hindi naman sobrang ano noong sa akin. Pang-basketball pa rin naman iyong foul, hindi iyong pang-UFC na kagaya noong ginawa ni Kickert.”
He added: “Trash talk ng trash talk [si Goulding]. Sinabihan ko na nga siya na, ‘You don’t need to trash talk ’cause you’re up by 30 points.’ Hindi na nila kailangan e, pero patuloy pa rin siya.”
According to the Cebuano gunner, the resulting free-for-all was a lesson learned not just for him but also for his teammates, and they hope to move on from it.
“Humihingi muna kami ng sorry sa lahat ng fans ng Gilas at sa fans din ng Australia. May mga nangyari na ’di namin inaasahan. Sana matuto kami dito at hindi na maulit,” Pogoy said./PN
