ANTIPOLO – Jimmy Alapag won in his first PBA game as head coach when NLEX routed Macau on Friday night at the start of the 50th Season Governors’ Cup.
Alapag returned to the Philippines after a three-year stint as player development coach of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. So he isn't putting too much into the winning debut, knowing that their campaign will be a marathon, not a sprint.
“It’s almost like going home after your first day of school, you had a good first day,” Alapag said.
“But malayo pa. Still a lot of work to be done,” Alapag said.
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But at least for Friday’s game, Alapag was glad everything that he set out to do when he accepted the NLEX job were accomplished, most of all the opportunity to coach in a place he considers home.
“Saya just to be home,” Alapag said. “Obviously, before I left in 2020, my wife and our family were here for 19 years. And the last six years… when I arrived, seen a lot, learned a lot in my time in the NBA. And that’s where my fulfillment now is.”
“I’m far removed from playing, but to take everything I’ve learned from my experience here, with Gilas, and now, my experience being back in the States, to pour that into this group and this generation of Philippine basketball, that’s the exciting part," he said.
The Gilas Pilipinas and PBA legend feels that the players are absorbing what he preaches, seeing them play unselfish basketball until the final buzzer, even with the result of the match already settled after the lead reached 43 points.
“I’ve been here nine, 10 days, really happy with the group. I just love their competitive spirit and their selflessness. We had 30 assists, and to have that many assists in your first game, I think that’s a foundation that we can build moving forward,” Alapag said.
Alapag is also excited to see the depth of the team during Friday’s game.
“If you look back at the last conference, this team was the No. 1 team in the eliminations. So I didn’t feel like I needed to make any major changes. But I do think that we have the depth to stretch our bench a little bit to give some of our other guys an opportunity.
"And it will be up to them to take advantage of those minutes."
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