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    COLUMN: NLEX looks like a team without a road map

    What's next for NLEX after Guiao? Nobody seems to know
    Sep 9, 2022
    Kevin Alas Yeng Guiao NLEX vs TNT
    PHOTO: Jerome AscaƱo
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - After dealing with the issue for quite some time, Jason Perkins went to Saint Luke's Medical Center to have his right knee repaired.

    Renowned orthopedic surgeon Jose Raul Canlas performed the surgery last week. But the hurt had been lingering for years.

    "I was playing on a torn meniscus for a while. It was a small tear when I was at DLSU and as time went by it got worse," Perkins told SPIN.ph.

    [READ: Perkins out for the season after knee surgery]

    Maybe we ought to stop calling Perk the "Hefty Lefty." This dude is breathing, flexing real life Iron Man who has dealt with pain and discomfort like a red badge of courage.

    It wasn't until the first PBA bubble when the knee started to swell and things got to a point where "I decided to get surgery done," the No. 4 overall pick of the 2017 PBA draft added.

    "The past two seasons I couldn't even tell if anything was wrong and I give credit to the physical therapists at Phoenix and my coaches, Luis De Mesa and Diego Lozano."

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      Perkins also praised his wife for steering him to a healthy diet which helped him stay in tip-top shape and robust enough to light up the past Philippine Cup conference by averaging 16 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

      CLEARLY, PERK'S WIFE DID A GREAT JOB acting as the food police and making sure Jason's 29-year old body stays true to the ideal calorie count while avoiding the nutritional misdemeanor of eating junk foods.

      But for now, though, the Fuel Masters beast is in hibernation. Out for what he says could be " two to three months" and currently doing therapy "six times a week."

      Lesser mortals would descend into despair. Perkins only has optimism.

      "I'm fairly content with the situation right now. Just because I got hurt doesn't mean my goals changed. So, I'm just looking at this as a little detour," said the 6-foot-4, 235-pound power forward.

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      Yousef Taha Jason Perkins

      Although he didn't exactly tell me what those goals are, I have a feeling that the stud wearing jersey No. 3 wants to be No. 1.

      And once he is pain-free, the rest of the PBA better beware.

      BAND AID SOLUTION. The NLEX Road Warriors probably love Taylor Swift so much that they appear to be playing out the lyrics of her hit song Bad Blood.

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      Here it goes.

      "Band-aids don't fix bullet holes. You say sorry just for show. If you live like that, you live with ghosts."

      After their divorce, it looks like the ghost of Yeng Guiao is haunting NLEX.

      [READ: Adonis Tierra named interim NLEX coach]

      Look, naming an interim coach is never a good thing, it suggests indecision. And in light of Guiao's departure, it's a clear lack of a Plan B on the part of the bruised Road Warriors.

      "We have confidence in (interim coach) Adonis Tierra," NLEX manager told me via text message.

      Sure, confidence as a placeholder. Which is not necessarily fair to a guy who had been fiercely loyal to your franchise for nine years.

      If management can't decide between top candidates Luigi Trillo and Jong Uichicao right now, then why not name Tierra as the head coach, bump his salary up and give him a one-conference audition?

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      If this coaching vacancy happened at TNT, the job will be filled the day after it was vacated.

      But things seem to move slower when you are the least favored sibling in a three-team family.

      Am I right, NLEX?

      And am I wrong, Magnolia?

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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      PHOTO: Jerome AscaƱo
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