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David Simon finally got a win under his belt.
Replacing banned reinforcement Ivan Johnson for TNT, the 33-year-old admitted that a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders after the Tropa scored a 108-96 victory over Phoenix on Saturday.
“It’s big. I know before I got here, they lost a couple of games. When I got here, we lost the first game, so it was important for the team to get back on the right track,” he said.
READ: PBA: Hotshooting TNT ends losing skid
And TNT could thank him a lot for that, as he stuffed the stat sheets with his 33 points, 22 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and three blocks.
Despite the eye-popping numbers, Simon is simply focused on delivering what is needed from him by the team.
“I don’t necessary go and stuff the stat sheets, but I just try to do what they ask me to do. Coach mentioned rebounds, so I focus on getting rebounds, scoring down low,” he said. “It’s just good basketball I play as long as it helps the team win. If the team needs me to score, that’s what I’ll do. If they need me to get rebounds, I’ll focus on that too.”
There’s also no pressure on his part to match Johnson’s output.
“Not so much pressure to match the numbers he got. When you come to a situation as a replacement or a new team, you always want to play good and play your best, help the team,” he said, adding that he has gotten himself comfortable with his new team.
“Personally, I like everything about it. I’m learning more and more about the guys and about the team as the days go by.”
At 2-3, TNT got itself back in the thick of things and prevented any further decline to the cellar.
Simon is just keeping a positive vibe with TNT’s campaign going forward, saying his presence in the paint perfectly compliments the Tropa’s gunners all around.
“It’s a win-win situation,” he said. “Anytime that if I’m scoring down low and the defense gets sucked in, I can pass it out to make open shots for them. If they’re making it, it opens me up as well.”
“I guess it’s a symbiotic relationship, we work well together.”