By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
HAVING seen the “special” basketball mind of Jimmy Alapag both as a player and coach with the Talk ’N Text franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and Gilas Pilipinas program, national team coach Chot Reyes said he was not surprised with the success of his former ward in his initial foray as head coach and, ditto, happy for him.
Led the San Miguel Alab Pilipinas to the ASEAN Basketball League title on May 2, Mr. Alapag joined the ranks of champion Filipino basketball coaches, and did so in his first head-coaching gig.
In winning the ABL title, Alab Pilipinas defeated Mono Vampire Basketball Club of Thailand in their best-of-five finals series that went the full route.
Alab Pilipinas notched the title with a 102-92 victory over Mono Vampire in Game Five, pushing the Philippines with the most championships in the eight-year history of the ABL.
Prior to this year, a Philippine team won the ABL title in 2010 with the Philippine Patriots and 2013 with the San Miguel Beermen.
A proud mentor, Mr. Reyes said he is very happy with what Mr. Alapag had achieved and that he is very much deserving of the success he is currently experiencing.
“I wasn’t surprised because we felt he was prepared to take on the job with all his experience. Granted he had a short assistant coach experience but there are some people who do not need to have extensive assistant coaching experience just because of their personality and knowledge and understanding of the game that they have accumulated over the years,” said Mr. Reyes when a group of sports media caught up with him on the sidelines of the press launch of FitCon Manila 5 on May 3.
“Jimmy worked as a team manager of TNT, was a staff with TNT and with me in Gilas. So he had seen everything and when the time came that he was taking over that team, Alab, of course we would not stand in the way. Admittedly, though, initially I had some doubts but in the end when I spoke to him and saw how eager he was and committed there was no reason for us to stand in the way,” added Mr. Reyes, also TV5 president.
The champion PBA coach went on to say that he was impressed with how Mr. Alapag evolved as a coach as the ABL season moved along.
“It was not easy for him and I saw him struggle along the way. But as a mark of a good coach he made the adjustments. [He did well with] The imports he hired and the local players he hired. And the local players who he did not hire, that was equally important because there were a lot behind-the-scenes stories. There were big-name players that were available who they did not get. It speaks volumes of the kind of coach that he is,” Mr. Reyes said.
Playing for Mr. Alapag in the champion Alab Pilipinas team were imports Justin Brownlee and Renaldo Balkman along with Ray Parks, Jr., Josh Urbiztondo, Lawrence Domingo, Dondon Hontiveros and Paolo Javelona.
Now that the ABL season is over, Mr. Alapag could rejoin the Gilas staff, Mr. Reyes said.
“Jimmy has never been out of the Gilas staff. When Alab came, of course, he had to focus there. But we have to talk to him first regarding what he can do for Gilas because they (Alab) have a schedule there and we also have our own time table,” said the national team coach.

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