NLEX head coach Jimmy Alapag was among the many Gilas Pilipinas supporters who felt really bad after the Philippine team failed to defend the men’s basketball title in the 20th Asian Games in Japan.
The 48-year-old Alapag said he may have long been away from pro basketball as a player, but reiterated that just like many of the Filipino basketballcrazy fans, Gilas Pilipinas is always a part of his life.
“It’s tough, all of us I think, we’re all connected to Gilas. I think we all loved to see them perform better but they tried their best, and sometimes, things like that happens,” Alapag told some media men last Thursday as the man known as the “Mighty Mouse” appeared in the opening of the Shoot 360 facility at Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas.
The PBA-backed Philippine team limped to a 1-2 win-loss record in the group stage, including a humiliating 105-61 defeat to China last Monday.
The 44-point beating knocked the Philippine men’s squad out of the quarterfinal stage, and ending the country’s titleretention bid in the quadrennial games.
Alapag said the loss offered valuable lessons, which he hopes will serve the national basketball leaders and coaching staff in good stead as they prepare for the the future international tournaments.
“We just have to find a way to improve moving forward,” said Alapag, a six-time PBA champion as a player, and who played a big part in the Philippine team’s return to the FIBA World Cup after leading Gilas Pilipinas past South Korea, 83-79, in the 2013 FIBA Asia men’s championship semifinal in Manila.
That victory over their long-time Asian basketball nemesis broke what had long been the “Korean curse,” securing the Philippines a return trip to the World Cup for the first time since 1978.
“At the end of the day, it’s still a huge honor to represent the country.
I’m proud of the players because in the middle of the PBA season, (they) still dedicate their time and give their best effort,” Alapag said.
Alapag, who spend the past three years as the Sacramento Kings’ player development coach before returning to the Philippines to handle NLEX, believes the Gilas Pilipinas players and coaching staff deserve to be commended for fighting through adversity despite falling short in the Asian Games.
“I hope they (Filipinos) applaud those guys for still representing the country, giving their best even though it wasn’t the result we wanted,” said Alapag, who averaged 9.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Seville, Spain.
