The TNT Tropang 5G has high hopes for Simon Enciso as he suits up for the squad in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

Tropang 5G team manager Jojo Lastimosa said the 34-year-old guard will be a valuable asset given his knack for blending into the squad’s system without difficulty.

Enciso last played for San Miguel Beer in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup where they missed the playoffs after finishing the elimination round at 10th place with a 5-7 win-loss record.

“He was a free agent and Simon came from the TNT franchise when he was 20. They’re familiar with him,” Lastimosa said.

“He’s Roger’s (Pogoy) teammate. Simon has this reputation that he’s a bit arrogant but Simon’s a hard worker.”

“We know that he can make threes, which is really important in our system.”

Enciso is set to fill in for point guard Jayson Castro, who was ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining a knee injury last conference.

The Filipino-American guard will join the fellow guards Pogoy, Rey Nambatac, Kim Aurin, and Glenn Khobuntin as the Tropang 5G begin their campaign on 23 April against the NLEX Road Warriors at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Lastimosa believes Enciso will help TNT fill the void left by Castro as they shoot for the elusive Grand Slam.

The Tropang 5G so far won the Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup this season and are looking to join the likes of Crispa, San Mig Super Coffee, Alaska, and San Miguel Beer as the only PBA teams to pull off the rare trifecta.

“Our problem now really is, ‘Can we survive without Jayson?’ We’ve proven that we can but hardly,” Lastimosa said.

“So getting Simon would really help. But we still have a lot of work to do in terms of making our lineup.”