Joseph Henry Lim Yeo (born September 7, 1983) is a Filipino professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Manila Stars The Manila City Stars (also spelled as Manila CityStars) are a professional basketball team in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the Pilipinas Super League (PSL). The team is owned by the Local City Government of Manila, Phi ...

of the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines. History Manny Pacquiao launched the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on August 29, 2017, starting off as a semi-professional lea ...

(MPBL). He was drafted third overall by the

Coca-Cola Tigers Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Amateur career

Yeo took his primary and secondary education at

Xavier School English: ''Let your light shine!'' , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuit) , established = , founders = , president = Fr. Aristotle Dy, SJ , chairman = Johnip Cua , administrator = , re ...

and his collegiate education at

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...

. He was a part of the Green Archers team that completed its quest for four-peat by defeating Ateneo in the 2001 UAAP Finals. From a UAAP rookie year in 2001 where he averaged of 3.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 9.5 minutes per game, he improved this to an average statline of 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 23.3 minutes in the 2004 season. In the PBL, he led his team, Harbour Centre Batang Pier, to its first PBL crown alongside ex-Ateneo star

LA Tenorio Lewis Alfred Vasquez Tenorio (born July 9, 1984) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is also an assistant coach for the Letran Knights of the Philip ...

by winning the 2006 Unity Cup Finals against Toyota Otis.

Professional career

Yeo was drafted by the now-defunct

as third overall pick in 2006, just behind

Kelly Williams Kelly Williams (born February 7, 1982) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang Giga in the PBA. He played collegiate basketball at Oakland University, an NCAA Division I school in the United States, and he ...

and Arwind Santos. As a rookie, he played limited minutes as a reliever to Tiger's main-man

John Arigo John Hartley Ward Arigo (born December 10, 1978), in Charleston, South Carolina, is a Filipino-American retired professional basketball player having played for three teams in the Philippine Basketball Association over a nine-year career. He was ...

. Despite the limited playing time, he still managed to average 10 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 1.2 apg in 26 minutes per contest halfway into the elimination round of the 2006-07 PBA Philippine Cup. However, this did not stop critics from calling him a bust and attribute this to his lacking in size to play the two-spot. In 2007, he was traded, along with a future draft pick, to Sta. Lucia for former FEU forwards

Mark Isip Mark Gracer P. Isip (born December 10, 1980 ) is a Filipino professional basketball coach and former player. Isip played college basketball for the FEU Tamaraws, where he is currently an assistant coach. He was then drafted sixth overall by the ...

and

Cesar Catli Cesar Ruba Catli Jr. is a Filipino people, Filipino professional basketball player for the Cebu City Sharks of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He was picked by the Sta. Lucia Realtors tenth overall in the 2005 PBA draft. PBA ca ...

. As a Realtor, he effectively played his off-the-bench role, winding up as the team's second-best scorer behind

with a 13.5-point average, and became a vital cog of the team that won the

2007–08 PBA Philippine Cup The 2007–08 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup or known as the 2007–08 Smart PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the first conference of the 2007–08 PBA season. The tournament was formally opened on October ...

. In 2010, he was dealt to San Miguel for

Bonbon Custodio Bonifacio Custodio (born November 30, 1982) is a Filipino people, Filipino professional basketball player for the Davao Occidental Tigers of the Pilipinas Super League (PSL). He was drafted 8th overall by the San Miguel Beermen during the 2008 PB ...

. While playing for the Beermen, he spent most of his time on the bench and in the injured list, and did not play with the team that won the 2011 PBA Governors Cup Championship. During the midseason of 2013 PBA Governors Cup, he was shipped to

Air21 Express The Air21 Express were a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) that debuted in the 2011–12 season. The team debuted as the Shopinas.com Clickers during the 2011–12 PBA Philippine Cup. In 2014, the fran ...

in a one-on-one swap with

. which reunited him with his college coach

Franz Pumaren Franz Santos Pumaren (born December 5, 1963) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and coach. He played college ball for De La Salle University before playing professional basketball in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is ...

and college teammate

Mark Cardona Mark Reynan Mikesell Cardona (born November 13, 1981) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Boracay Islanders of the Pilipinas Super League. From a successful college career with the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, ...

. During the

2013–14 PBA Philippine Cup The 2013–14 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, also known as the 2013–14 PLDT Home DSL/myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the first conference of the 2013–14 PBA season. The tournament started on ...

, he switched his role from shooting guard to point guard during the absence of Simon Atkins. He has since switched back to his natural two-guard position once Simon Atkins returned from injury and after the team acquired a true point guard in Jonas Villanueva. In the 2014 season, he averaged 12.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 31 minutes per game. His minute, rebound and assist marks were all career-highs while his scoring output was his highest since he averaged 13.5 points for now-defunct Sta. Lucia in 2008–09, his third year in the league. Right before Air21 sold its franchise to

NLEX The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects M ...

, he was traded to Barangay Ginebra. On May 4, 2015, Joseph Yeo traded by the

Barangay Ginebra The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.), a subsidia ...

to the Barako Bull in exchange for fellow guard

Sol Mercado Solomon Jemuel Rayos Mercado (born May 6, 1984) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Professional career Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Mercado was originally drafted by the ...

. On July 3, 2015, Joseph Yeo traded by the Barako Bull to the

GlobalPort Batang Pier The NorthPort Batang Pier is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides Nor ...

in exchange for 2016 1st round pick.

PBA career statistics

Season-by-season averages

, - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

, 32 , , 16.4 , , .289 , , .208 , , .575 , , 2.5 , , .9 , , .7 , , .1 , , 7.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Sta. Lucia , 52 , , 22.3 , , .373 , , .375 , , .703 , , 3.0 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .1 , , 10.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Sta. Lucia , 44 , , 26.6 , , .392 , , .287 , , .742 , , 3.6 , , 2.2 , , .9 , , .2 , , 13.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Sta. Lucia / San Miguel , 50 , , 20.6 , , .351 , , .305 , , .688 , , 2.4 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .1 , , 8.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , San Miguel / Petron , 40 , , 15.3 , , .346 , , .318 , , .816 , , 1.8 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .0 , , 5.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Petron , 46 , , 26.0 , , .379 , , .313 , , .667 , , 3.4 , , 2.9 , , .4 , , .0 , , 8.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Petron /

Air21 Air21 Airlines was a short-lived United States airline based in Fresno, California, led by Mark Morro, founded by David Miller and co-founded by David J. VanderLugt. The airline operated five Fokker F28 Fellowship 64-passenger twin engine jet ...

, 30 , , 20.7 , , .387 , , .333 , , .487 , , 2.2 , , 2.2 , , .3 , , .0 , , 6.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Air21 , 40 , , 31.0 , , .378 , , .325 , , .691 , , 4.1 , , 4.3 , , .6 , , .0 , , 12.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

/ Barako Bull , 36 , , 25.9 , , .351 , , .290 , , .750 , , 2.9 , , 3.7 , , .5 , , .1 , , 10.0 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , GlobalPort , 36 , , 23.8 , , .337 , , .280 , , .693 , , 2.4 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , .1 , , 8.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Meralco The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 munic ...

, 17 , , 9.1 , , .329 , , .267 , , .692 , , .7 , , .9 , , .1 , , .1 , , 4.1 , -class=sortbottom , align="center" colspan=2 , Career , 423 , , 22.5 , , .361 , , .306 , , .693 , , 2.8 , , 2.4 , , .5 , , .1 , , 9.1

Personal life

He married Angela Medalla on May 27, 2008, and their baby named Mariana Zaria M. Yeo was born on September 3, 2008, and in January 2012, another baby girl, named Helena, was born.

Feud with Enrico Villanueva

Yeo was notable for his on and off-court feud with college rival, former King Eagle

Enrico Villanueva Jose Enrico Pascual Villanueva (born June 23, 1980) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He last played for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Amateur career Villanueva first played for the A ...

. During the PBA-sanctioned Ateneo-La Salle Dream Games in December 2005, he elbowed Villanueva at the forehead as the latter was getting the ball rebounds. In 2006, another incident happened pitting the two rivals was after the game between his team Coca-Cola and Villanueva's Red Bull, when they engaged in a parking lot brawl. They were both summoned by then PBA Commissioner

Noli Eala Jose Emmanuel "Noli" M. Eala is a Filipino sports executive and disbarred lawyer who served as the 11th chairperson of the Philippine Sports Commission from August 30 to December 28, 2022. He previously served as the sixth commissioner of the P ...

. He has since apologized to Villanueva. When Villanueva was recently traded to Air21 in March 2014, he clarified that their old quarrel has long been a thing of the past.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeo, Joseph 1983 births Living people Air21 Express players Barako Bull Energy players Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Filipino people of Chinese descent Filipino men's basketball players NorthPort Batang Pier players Meralco Bolts players Powerade Tigers players San Miguel Beermen players Shooting guards Basketball players from Manila Sta. Lucia Realtors players De La Salle Green Archers basketball players Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Powerade Tigers draft picks