AS far as expansion teams go the performance of the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters pales in comparison to fellow newbies Mahindra Floodbuster and Blackwater Elite.
Mahindra qualified to the playoffs last conference and almost made it to the semifinals. Blackwater is off to a jackrabbit start this 2016-2017 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup and is actually on top of the heap in the standings.
But as far building basketball teams go I believe Phoenix will be a true contender sooner than either Mahindra or Blackwater.
For starters the Fuel Masters have never traded away their best players in illogical, one-sided deals the way some other lower-ranked PBA teams have been doing.
After becoming a playoff contender last season Mahindra traded away their best players and now find themselves back at the bottom of the heap. Blackwater is doing well because of Mac Belo but you could almost feel desperation of coach Leo Isaac who probably knows that Belo may not be with the team for long.
In contrast Phoenix has been slowly, but steadily improving every conference.
The Fuel Masters rocked the league when they brought down the San Miguel Beermen, the consensus strongest team this Philippine Cup. JC Intal drained the dagger three to power Phoenix past San Miguel Beer, 92-85, last Wednesday at the Antipolo Ynares Center.
Intal was all poise and composure, converting a bank shot off arguably the best defender in the league in Arwind Santos and then stepping into a three-pointer seconds later to seal the Phoenix Petroleum victory.
Intal finished with a game-high 22 points, most of them at crunch time, to pick up the cudgels from Simon Enciso who had a torrid third quarter to propel Phoenix to a fat lead.
Enciso unloaded 15 points in the third, his total scoreline for the game, as the Fuel Masters sat on a 14-point cushion entering the payoff fourth period.
Three-time PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo led the SMB rally by scoring 12 of his 19 points in the payoff period but Intal was there to douse the San Miguel rally.
Fajardo finished with 19 points and 23 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to offset the balanced scoring by the Fuel Masters.
How well Phoenix performs this conference will probably start and end with Intal.
The former Ateneo De Manila University star has all the physical tools to be a great basketball player. He is long and wiry, supremely athletic who can jump out of the gym, and has the complete basketball skill set. He can handle the ball, dish or score in a variety of ways from taking it strong to the hoop to drilling it from three-point distance and everything else in between.
Vanguardia said Intal is his team’s franchise player and he’s right because he is the most talented player on his bench. It’s really a stroke of genius that Vanguardia decided to bring Intal off the bench in the San Miguel Beer game.
Intal, who has started in all his teams (dating back to his amateur days in college and high school), was not too happy being left out of the starting unit. But the slight only motivated the Phoenix star to play better. Second and more important it allowed him to sit back and relax and watch the game unfold.
In that game against San Miguel Intal played with poise and control as he let the game come to him instead of chasing around the court like a pinball.
Phoenix has the bench to go far this Philippine Cup. They have the Fil-Am tandem of Enciso and Matthew Wright, who can not only score but also defend and limit their counterparts on the floor.
They have hard-working veterans who can still contribute in rebounding machine Willy Wilson as well as scorers Cyrus Baguio and John Wilson who is due for an explosion soon.
They also have important young big men in Norbert Torres and Prince Caperal.
Finally, and just as important, the Fuel Masters have shored up their support staff quite well.
They got a basketball man in Paolo Bugia as team manager. They hired a competent big man coach in Nic Belasco. They then got one of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the country in Julio Veloso. Finally, they hired Asean Basketball League champion coach Vanguardia to call the shots.
Now if they can only exercise patience and wait for this group to mature then this Phoenix team will be a true contender sooner rather than later.
