Jamike Jarin praises Jason Perkins for being 'inspiration' to Phoenix, young players

Jamike Jarin sees Jason Perkins as an "inspiration" for current and future basketball stars. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

PASIG—Coach Jamike Jarin sees Jason Perkins as a different kind of superstar.

While there could be perks of being Phoenix's franchise player that "Perk" can afford, the opposite can be seen in him instead according to Jarin.

For one, Jarin revealed that Perkins is actually the most punctual on the team.

"He's the franchise player, but he's the earliest to come to practice, he's [among] the ones that would stay longer in practice, and he's very selfless," Jarin said on Thursday night.

He added, "We all know Jason is a really hardworking and very talented player, but the things that you don't see about him, he's an inspiration not only to our team but to the general public, especially to the young ones."

Jarin even believes the six-foot-four forward could spearhead a new generation of players who could redefine the word "coachable".

"This is the new generation of players that you really want to have in your team not only in the PBA but in your varsity teams. I am inspired by the way he does for himself, for his teammates, and for others," added Jarin, a former champion coach for Ateneo in high school and San Beda in college.

Perkins' work ethic paid off anew on Thursday night as he was named Man of the Match in the Fuel Masters' first win of the PBA Governors' Cup—Jarin's first win as head coach—beating the NorthPort Batang Pier at the PhilSports Arena here to get out of a 0-3 slump.

[Related Story: Phoenix scores 1st win under Jamike Jarin, keeps NorthPort winless]

"I'm very happy for coach Jamike. Coach Jamike is very positive. He's a very uplifting coach. Even if we lose, he doesn't go off blaming players," Perkins said in deflection of the credit to Jarin. "Coach Jamike makes it a point for everyone to be positive, so after a loss, we all just look to him."

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