Coming off his worst offensive game in his young PBA career, Simon Enciso knew he had to redeem himself the next time he hits the court.
True enough, Enciso bounced back with a game-high 21 points to lead Phoenix over NLEX Wednesday night, 10 days after making only one field goal in a blowout loss to Rain or Shine.
“All great players have those nights. Great players found a way to bounce back,” said Enciso. “So what I try to do is to get in the gym early and shoot, and shoot, and shoot. All that hard work paid off and it showed In today’s game.”
“Simon bounced back from being 1-of-11 to having a very decent shooting today,” said his coach Ariel Vanguardia.
Enciso was instrumental in the Fuel Masters’ fifth victory that put the team in joint fourth place, but the second-year playmaker shared his success to his teammates and coaches.
“Thanks to my teammates and coaches for putting me in the right spots for me to be successful and knock down shots. Luckily tonight I knocked down some shots,” said Enciso, who made five triples after missing all of his five 3-point attempts against Rain or Shine.
Phoenix had to shake off NLEX in the second half and Enciso said what allowed the Fuel Masters to pull away was their defense.
“We just told ourselves to man up and lock down on defense because that’s where we’re struggling right now this season,” he said. “It’s our transition defense and half court and that was the real emphasis in practice that coach told us to do.”
“In the third quarter, we executed, knocked down shots and played defense. That’s what we need to do every game and that’s what we’re striving for right now.”