All the frustrations Frankie Lim felt went away in an instant when NLEX finally chalked up that first win under his stewardship on Wednesday night.
And it was quite poetic that the comebacking coach earned that breakthrough victory at the expense of a former mentor of his back in the day.
“That was many hairs ago,” quipped Lim shortly after the Road Warriors’ 110-101 conquest of TNT in Commissioner’s Cup action at the Philsports Arena.
The cager turned shot-caller played under none other than Chot Reyes, first in Alaska and later on in Purefoods when the latter became its head coach after years of serving as an assistant to Tim Cone with the Milkmen.
“I played under him in Purefoods for about two years,” recalled Lim, who played for the TJ Hotdogs from 1993-94 — and won two of his six championships there — after spending six years (1986-92) with the Uytengsu franchise.
“[In] Alaska, he was an assistant coach then, assistant siya ni Tim [Cone]. When he transferred to Purefoods, I went with him,” he furthered.
It’s been decades already and Lim could tell how different the stuff Reyes is running with the Tropang Giga now in comparison to their time together.
“He’s running different things now compared to before. I saw the tapes the past two days, and super talented talaga ‘yung team niya. Ultimo ‘yung bigyan mo lang ng ball screen, ‘pag nalibre si [Roger] Pogoy, he’s going to make the shot.
“Mataas ang talent level ng team na yun. That’s why at times, it’s easier to coach yung mga ganoong teams, hindi ka masyadong mag-struggle,” he said.
Still, Lim managed to take down the perennial contenders, and he couldn’t be any happier too, at last, get the monkey off his back after falling short in his first two outings against Phoenix Super LPG and Magnolia.
“I coached my first game, against Phoenix, and we lost a lot of points. Tapos ‘yung sumunod pa, natalo ulit kami. Sabi ko nga, kailan kaya? Kailan kaya ko makukuha yung first win? And it happened tonight. Just very happy,” he said.
But of course, Lim isn’t settling for just one win. He hopes for NLEX to register many more moving forward into the conference.
“In the coming games, I think it’s a good confidence builder for all of us. I just hope to get another win,” he said.
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