MANILA, Philippines – A day before the PBA Commissioner’s Cup begins, Frankie Lim, a former collegiate champion, has been named the NLEX Road Warriors’ new head coach. Coach Lim is former coach for San Beda and Perpetual Help.

Yeng Guiao, who left the Road Warriors at the conclusion of the All-Filipino Conference, is replaced by Lim, 62. 

After his employment with the University of Perpetual Help ended in 2020, Lim is now back in the coaching profession. Four NCAA titles were previously won by San Beda University under Lim, the most recent of which was in 2011. 

Earlier this year, he was mentioned in connection with the coaching vacancy at San Beda, which ultimately went to Yuri Escueta. 

The Commissioner’s Cup campaign for NLEX will get underway against Guiao and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Friday night at the PhilSports Arena.

Joseller “Yeng” Medina Guiao, a Filipino basketball professional head coach, politician, commentator, and sports commissioner, was born on March 19, 1959. The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketball Association presently have him as their head coach. He had previously been the Philippine national team’s interim head coach.

Since beginning his head coaching position for Swift in the early 1990s, Guiao has won seven PBA championships. From 1997 to 2000, he served as the Philippine Basketball League’s commissioner. From 2004 through 2013, he served three separate governors—Mark Lapid, Eddie Panlilio, and Lilia Pineda—as vice governor of the province of Pampanga.

He served as the 1st District representative for Pampanga in Congress from 2013 until 2016.

Beginning of Coaching Career

Guiao formerly served as the head coach of the Swift team in the Philippine Amateur Basketball League, which included Alvin Patrimonio as one of its notable players, before beginning his coaching career in the PBA. In 1990, the RFM franchise joined market competitor Pepsi in the PBA as Pop Cola. Guiao served as the team’s first head coach and guided the newly renamed Diet Sarsi to its first finals appearance, where they were defeated by Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdog in 1991.

He guided Swift to their first championship in the Third Conference in 1992, sweeping 7-Up 4-0 in the final. Additionally, it was Guiao’s first PBA title. Additionally, under his leadership, the Mighty Meaties team made it to the finals twice in 1993 and 1994, when they fell to San Miguel and Alaska. 

Guiao and Derrick Pumaren, a Pepsi mentor at the time, engaged in a unique coach for coach trade in 1995. While Guiao had two dismal seasons with Pepsi and later renamed as Mobiline before quitting his coaching position in 1996, Pumaren led the Sunkist Orange Juicers, who had undergone a name change, to two championships that year.

National Team Experience

He was appointed the head coach of the Philippines men’s national basketball team on September 25, 2008, and given the duty of choosing, assembling, and preparing the team in preparation for participation in the 2010 World Basketball Championship (FIBA World Championship) in Istanbul, Turkey.

Chot Reyes, the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters’ current head coach, was succeeded by Guiao. Guiao followed Robert Jaworski, Sr. (1990), Norman Black (1994), Tim Cone (1998), Jong Uichico (2002), and Reyes as the sixth coach to lead a PBA-backed national team.

Reyes finished ninth in the 2007 FIBA-Asia Men’s Basketball Championship in Tokushima, Japan. [Following a failed bid, he was then replaced as the national coach by Rajko Toroman.

After Chot Reyes and many other Filipino players were punished by FIBA for their participation in the Philippines-Australia basketball fight during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifications, Guiao took over as the Philippines’ head coach. Guiao succeeded in securing the Philippines’ qualification for the 2019 FIBA World Cup despite the suspension. 

However, the Philippines’ five games at the 2019 FIBA World Cup under Guiao were all losses. On September 11, 2019, Guiao made his departure as the team’s head coach official.