Phoenix coach Jamike Jaren and the Fuel Masters. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Stuck in the lower part of the standings, Phoenix gained momentum anew after beating Terrafirma in the PBA Governors’ Cup tournament on Saturday.
The Fuel Masters held a 1-5 win-loss record prior to their win over Dyip, 125-100, and player of the game Jason Perkins simply called their big win a result of their hard work.
“This was big. It’s [all about] wins and losses and we had just one win before this game so this one’s huge going into the postseason. It was good. We had good practices this week and this game is just a fruit of our labors,” said Perkins after finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
A postseason spot, however, is still uncertain for the Fuel Masters as the win only tied them at ninth seed with Terrafirma. Both squads are holding twin 2-5 cards.
Phoenix averted disaster in the fourth quarter when they had to play without import DuVaughn Maxwell, who was escorted out of the third quarter due to two technical fouls.
Phoenix Fuel Masters’ Jason Perkins. –PBA IMAGES
Coach Jamike Jarin emphasized the trouble was dodged due to the “next man up” mentality he instilled in the squad.
“It was unfortunate that he was called with a second technical so he had to be ejected but what he did in the first half already helped us to have that lead. When we lost him in the third quarter, everybody stepped up. That’s always our mentality, next man up,” said Jarin.
Jaren, however, still commended Maxwell for the things he bring to Phoenix.
“[He’s] a winner and he really does the dirty job, may it be rebounding, changing shots, blocking shots, you don’t see that in the stat sheet and we’re fortunate that we have him,” said the coach.
Maxwell prematurely ended the match with 20 markers, 12 boards and 6 dimes in 27 minutes of play.
Another positive thing for Phoenix in the victory was the slow but efficient return of San Beda product Javee Mocon.
Mocon suffered an injury last December when he was caught in a mishap with Magnolia’s Aris Dionisio. To go along with an ailing arm, Mocon also had to get procedures done with his right knee.
In his limited run back with Phoenix, he produced 13 points, four dimes and two rebounds in just 20 minutes. He also shot an efficient 44 percent shooting clip from the field, sinking four of his nine tries.
“That’s a good sign for us. Javee plays multiple positions, he plays the three and the four so we’re flexible right now with his return but game shape-wise, he was a little shaky in the start. Come the second [half], we saw the Javee Mocon we were all used to seeing but he’s going to get better as he gets his groove back,” lauded Jarin.
“Coming off an injury, he will still have limited minutes but as we saw, he’s going to be big for us in these coming games,” assured the veteran coach.
Up next for the Fuel Masters is top-team Converge at Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, next week.