FRANKIE Lim has only handled Prince Eze for the better part of the year, but if things hold through, Perpetual's hulking big man may already rank high in the decorated coach's list of top foreign players.
"If he's gonna be the MVP now, that means he's gonna be my third MVP. That's not bad," said the seasoned mentor.
That's quite a feat for Eze given the pedigree of talents Lim has handled before.
Back in his days with San Beda, Lim has turned foreign players Sam Ekwe and Sudan Daniel from complementary big men to reliable main men, with the two winning Most Valuable Player awards during their time.
"I just try to maximize our foreign players. Even when I was in San Beda, I handled Ekwe and I handled Sudan Daniel and we just maximized them," he said.
"We tell them, if you want to do stuff in the game, you just have to consistently practice it. If you want to take your outside shots outside? Practice your shots outside. If you want to make your post moves? Work on your post moves. That's the only way to get better."
Truth be told, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if Eze follows suit.
Currently in a tightrace for the top individual plum against reigning MVP CJ Perez, Eze has upped the ante in his game, pumping 25 points, 23 rebounds, and four blocks in the Altas' 85-77 overtime win over San Sebastian on Thursday.
And Lim is just in awe with how the Nigerian slotman is performing.
"He raised again his MVP numbers," he said. "He's our MVP, very important player in our system."
Eze didn't have any rest and played all 45 minutes of the game, but admirably rose to Lim's challenge and performed the way he did.
"I'm just happy, very glad for him that he is responding very well to the minutes given to him. Everybody in our team knows that we live and die with Prince," the coach said.
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