THE transition is not an easy one for Simon Enciso.
From being in the PBA finals a season ago, the Fil-Am guard now finds himself having to go through the process of learning how to win again with Blackwater.
And it has been one challenging season so far for Enciso and the Bossing, who have yet to register a single win halfway through their campaign in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations.
Simon Enciso as journeyman
The 30-year-old native of San Francisco admitted the sudden change in environment is indeed a trying time for him. But for a player who thrives on challenges, his faith remains that sooner or later, Blackwater will rise above its current situation.
“It’s a bit different, but that comes with you being traded to a new team,” said Enciso. “So it’s not my first go-around.”
Enciso was traded last season by TnT to Blackwater as part of the complex trade that landed the Tropang Giga highly talked about rookie Fil-Am Mikey Williams.
In his one season stop with the Tropang Giga, Enciso formed part of the team’s explosive backcourt of Ray Parks Jr. and Jayson Castro under consultant Mark Dickel to reach the finals of the Philippine Cup bubble in Clark, Pampanga where the team lost to Barangay Ginebra, 4-1.
During the off-season, he just signed a fresh two-year contract with TnT and had high hopes of picking up from where he left off in a bid to finally nail a first-ever championship in his PBA career.
Then came the blockbuster trade.
Enciso accepts it with a mere shrug of the shoulder, having also been traded several times in the past, including with Alaska where he also went to the finals during the 2018 Governors Cup before being dealt to TnT prior to the 2020 season in exchange for Mike Digregorio.
“I just kept an open mind, knowing that all the hard work that I put in will pay off,” he said.
Enciso has since become the top man of the Bossing though it’s been one rough campaign for the team, which remains as the only one to have yet to make it to the win column this season.
Despite a 0-7 record following Blackwater’s latest loss to Terrafirma on Sunday, 96-84, Enciso’s trust with the team never wanes.
He knows it’s a process he has to go through again in his playing career, but for a warrior like him, Enciso is more than up to the challenge.
“I just try to give my all to the team that I’m on. That’s what I’m all about,” he said. “Right now, I understand my competitiveness has to take a backseat and know that it’s a process.
“But I’m confident that my teammates and the coaches will figure it out and we’ll be all right.”
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