“Simon is still young, but his leadership is where we want it to be.”
First-year Phoenix Fuel Masters head coach Ariel Vanguardia praised sophomore Simon Enciso for being the leader their team needed when they had been down by as much as 26 points against Globalport last Wednesday.
Enciso played the last 8 minutes and 25 seconds of the final quarter that saw Phoenix rise up from the dead to hijack the game, 101-99 to go to 4-3. Though he scored just three of his 14 points during that stretch, it was his belief that they could come back that willed the Fuel Masters, according to Vanguardia.
“I saw it in their eyes that we’re still going to play. When we cut down the lead to 12, Simon came up to the bench and he told them this is our game,” the ABL champion coach reflected.
After making a three-pointer with 3:43 left to cut the lead down to a manageable 10 points, the 25-year-old was able to force Terrence Romeo into a turnover that led to a Cyrus Baguio layup, slicing the lead to just a solitary point with 1:42 left.
“That was my key point on that comeback. Told the guys ‘this is a great line-up we have out here with [Mark] Borbs and JC [Intal] us here, and we have shooters. If we’re open lets shoot, if we have the chance to run, let’s run,” shared Enciso, who was 17th overall pick in the 2015 draft.
“Let’s lock up on defense and let’s run, that’s what we did.”
With Globalport tying the game with 21 ticks on the clock, Enciso missed a wide-open corner triple with six seconds remaining. Fortunately for Phoenix, Borboran was there to clean it up to complete the greatest fourth quarter comeback the league has seen in a decade.
Now in the middle of the standings, the pressure is on for the San Francisco, California native to become the lead floor general for the young Fuel Masters. Enciso knows he has the tools to do so and is ready to step up to the challenge.
“It’s big, I have come a long way. My biggest goal in the PBA was to be one of the best guards,” shared Enciso, who has been averaging 13.6 points and 4.3 assists this season.
“The big step for me is to mature as a point guard and as a leader, hopefully I just keep pushing. This is a young team, and I’m only a sophomore but I feel like I have the tools to take us to the promised land so we’ll see.”
With the weapons Phoenix have, it now depends on whether Enciso can direct the traffic and steer the young franchise to the championship.
