TNT coach Bong Ravena put a huge amount of trust in Simon Enciso's pesky defense heading into the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup Finals against Ginebra.
Enciso lived up to that calling and even delivered on the offensive end as the Tropang Giga routed the Kings, 88-67, in Game 3 of the Finals Friday night at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.
"Simon has really been playing well, especially on defense. 'Yun ang pinaka-role niya," Ravena said of Enciso, who had the initiative to take on the big duty of guarding Ginebra's key player Stanley Pringle. "'Yung points niya kasama rin naman sa sistema namin. If he's open, may green light naman siya to shoot."
True enough, Enciso also delivered offensively as he registered 14 points, none bigger than his two triples in the payoff period which extended the lead by as many as 22 for TNT's biggest lead, 88-66.
One of the evident defensive stops of Enciso was during the 10:16 mark of the fourth quarter, when Jayson Castro took advantage of the blindsided Pringle and swiped the ball away for easy conversion.
Even in-game analyst and three-time PBA champion Ryan Gregorio believes so.
"What we saw was the quick hands of Jayson Castro," said Gregorio during the live commentary on One Sports. "But if you rewind that tape, it was really the on-the-ball defense of Simon Enciso blocking the pathway of Stanley Pringle. That is why he forced to stop a little bit and that was the cue for Jayson Castro to get the ball from behind."
That said, Pringle was only limited to 11 points on a 4-of-14 shooting clip.
Ravena stressed the importance of consistency in their defense and hoped that his wards can pull off the same level of play in Game 4 on Sunday.
"If 'di lang namin napa-score si Stanley, malaking bagay na sa amin 'yon because most of the scores are coming from him. I just hope matuloy lang namin 'yung ganitong klaseng laro."