(8th of nine parts)
Coach Yeng Guiao is cut from the same non-conforming cloth as CJL, period.
Prior to accepting his coaching upgrade from RFM’s amateur squad going upstairs to the pros in 1990, the son of former Pampanga Governor, Bren Guiao, the former UP Fighting Martin sought his old coach’s sage-like advice before going into the PBA foray.
CJL was the first person outside CYG’s family who knew all about it.
Such is the respect of the ward to his mentor, who he described to this writer, as an important influence on his career.
CYG went on further to say about his most important professional decision at that time;
“I knew then as I know now, that the best way to prepare myself for the challenging task ahead is to pick the brain of one of the most brilliant basketball minds in the country. Given his profound and no-nonsense approach, I had hoped to be able to take with me some of his invaluable wisdom. His successes in college basketball, the PBA, the national team, and even the organization of quality coaching programs and leagues aside, Coach Joe is really the quintessential coach and teacher of the game.”
Then more than thirty years after, CYG followed CJL’s path minus the collegiate stint but added full terms as Vice-Governor and Congressman in each post in the land of his birth.
That’s tweaking the servant leadership brand CJL emulated, which the Kapampangan gent absorbed fully by taking it to another level, as Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Commish, RPNMBT mentor in the 2018 FIBA Worlds in Spain, and lead one of the most enduring PBA coaching careers in history.
Somewhere in the plush Acropolis Gym in Pasig City, you’d still see, hear, and feel the commanding presence of Rain or Shine’s CYG, doing what he does best.
(Sonny “Peter” Regalado Lopez, is currently a player development coach, marketing communications consultant, and book author. He collaborated with coach Joe Lipa in publishing Basketball 101, a book that aims to coach the coaches and provide reference material for Physical Education teachers in the K to 12 curricula. The 53-year-old Lopez is a San Beda College, Manila, BSC Marketing Management graduate, who currently is working on publishing the memoirs of great coaches Joe Lipa, SJLC’s Larry Albano, and San Beda’s, late Edmundo ‘Ato’ Badolato, all in coffee table book format.)