Vanguardia admits lack of maturity in loss to San Miguel

Phoenix coach Ariel Vanguardia. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

Phoenix may have lost its opener against Meralco to start the PBA Governors’ Cup on Friday, but come Sunday, the Fuel Masters looked the part of giant beaters as they gave defending champions San Miguel a beating.

That was until AZ Reid became the personification of Arizona and lit up the scoreboards.

Phoenix had a 91-81 lead in the 4:25 mark of the third quarter, but Reid had enough and dropped 11 straight points across the final two periods to give San Miguel a 100-93 buffer.

Reid’s onslaught was too much for Phoenix head coach Ariel Vanguardia and his Fuel Masters that they ended up losing their second straight game, 124-113.

Vanguardia said his team still lacked the maturity they needed to close out games despite new acquisition Cyrus Baguio, who’s played in the league for 13 years, playing 36 minutes.

“Hindi pa talaga mature yung team,” said Vanguardia, who admitted they need something to fast track the process. “When the going gets tough, medyo hindi pa buo. Nakikita na walang mental toughness and lumalabas yung youth.”

Despite the loss, the rookie coach remained optimistic that Phoenix can turn its 0-2 record into a winning one.

“I’m happy kasi I’m a guy who looks at it half full rather than half empty.”

Phoenix enjoyed solid performances from its youngsters, with rookie big man Norbert Torres scoring a career-high 19 points to go along six rebounds, while fellow 2015 draftee Mark Cruz put up 13 points and seven assists.

Simon Enciso, who was also drafted in the same class as Torres and Cruz, had 12 points on his own.

Baguio, who won three championships in his career, played the facilitator for Vanguardia as he ended up with a 13-point, nine-assist line.

“Norbert played a very good game, Mark Cruz played a very good game, and Simon Enciso too,” said Vanguardia.

Torres and Cruz rarely received playing time with Star, the team that drafted them, while Enciso played substantial minutes for NLEX.

Enciso averaged 23.4 minutes per game with the Road Warriors while Torres and Cruz played sparingly with the Hotshots.

“We’re playing a lot of guys na nasa bench lang ng ibang team, hindi nabibigyan ng pagkakataon,” said Vanguardia. “At least tine-take nila yung opportunity.”