Jimmy Alapag

Jim Olmedo Alapag (born December 30, 1977) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He serves as a head coach for the San Miguel Alab Pilipinas of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).[1] He is nicknamed "The Mighty Mouse" and "The Captain".

Jimmy Alapag
Alapag in 2006
San Miguel Alab Pilipinas
PositionHead coach
LeagueABL
Personal information
Born (1977-12-30) December 30, 1977
San Bernardino, California
NationalityFilipino / American
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight160 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High schoolUpland (Upland, California)
CollegeCal State San Bernardino (1998–2002)
PBA draft2003 Round: 1 / Pick: 10th overall
Selected by the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals
Playing career2003–2016
PositionPoint guard
Number3
Coaching career2015–present
Career history
As player:
2003–2015Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters
2015–2016Meralco Bolts
As coach:
2015–2017Philippines (assistant)
2016–2017Meralco Bolts (team consultant)
2017–presentSan Miguel Alab Pilipinas
2019–2020San Miguel Beermen (assistant)
2019–presentPhilippines (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player

As head coach

As assistant coach

Medals
Men's Basketball
Assistant Coach for  Philippines
Southeast Asian Games
2017 Kuala LumpurTeam
2015 SingaporeTeam
FIBA Asia Championship
2015 Changsha Team
Representing  Philippines
FIBA Asia Championship
2013 Manila Team
William Jones Cup
2007 Taipei Team
2015 Taipei Team

Early life, college and amateur career

Alapag is the youngest of six siblings and his parents are both Filipino immigrants from Leyte. He was born and raised in San Bernardino, California. He said his greatest influence in playing basketball was his father and older brother Crispin. He started playing basketball at the age of 3.[2]

He played collegiate basketball at California State University, San Bernardino, where he established himself as a clutch three-point shooter.[3] In 2002, he had his first crack of Philippine basketball when he was invited by then-national team coach Jong Uichico to try out for the Philippine National Team bound for 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.[4]

Professional career

2003: Rookie season

Alapag was selected 10th overall pick in the 2003 PBA draft by the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals and was considered the "steal of the draft". Later on, Alapag formed a dynamic duo with slotman Asi Taulava to lead the Phone Pals to the All-Filipino Cup Championship by beating the Coca-Cola Tigers in the finals, after overcoming the 0-2 deficit to the Tigers and winning the last four games in the series to capture its first ever title. At the end of the 2003 season, he won the Rookie of the Year award by a huge margin after averaging 14.5 points, 7.02 assists and 6.54 rebounds per outing while shooting a decent clip of 35.4 percent from the three-point region.[5]

2004–05 season

In the 2004–05 PBA season, Alapag continued his remarkable play by winning his second mythical first team selection and co-MVP honors with teammate Taulava in the All-Star Game held in Cebu. He also led the Phone Pals to two straight Finals appearance but failed to win another championship against the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the Philippine Cup and against San Miguel Beermen in the Fiesta Conference.[6]

2008–2011 seasons

In the 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Alapag would add another championship ring by helping the Tropang Texters vanquish the Alaska Aces in a grueling seven game series. He did the same trick in the 2010–11 PBA Philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel after beating the Beermen 4 games to 2 and shared the Finals MVP honors with Jayson Castro. In the 2011 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals, he once again led the Tropang Texters to their back-to-back championships against Brgy. Ginebra, with him and Jayson Castro again both awarded as co-finals MVP. His team made it again in the 2011 PBA Governors' Cup Finals only to lose to the Petron Blaze Boosters in seven games. At season's end, he was minted as the season's Most Valuable Player, beating the likes of Arwind Santos and Mark Caguioa in the MVP race.[7]

2011–2014 and retirement

In the 2011–12 PBA Philippine Cup, Alapag would again rose to the occasion as he anchored an epic comeback by beating their nemesis, Petron Blaze in seven games after overcoming 1-3 deficit in their best-of-seven semi-final series. In the Finals game, his team successfully defended the Philippine Cup trophy by beating the Gary David-led Powerade Tigers, four games to one. In 2012 PBA Commissioner's Cup, the Tropang Texters again advanced to the Finals against the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados, only to lose the series in seven games. In the 2012–13 PBA Philippine Cup Finals he led the Texters sweep the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters four games to none and retain the Philippine Cup for the third time (they also took permanent possession of the Jun Bernardino Trophy).[8]

On December 23, 2014, he passed Ronnie Magsanoc to move to No. 2 behind Allan Caidic in the all-time three-point list with 1,172 three point field goals made.[9]

On January 9, 2015, he formally announced his retirement during a press conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum prior to the second game of the 2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup Finals between the Alaska Aces and the San Miguel Beermen. His #3 jersey was retired by Talk 'N Text on March 8, 2015, during halftime of the 2015 PBA All-Star Game.[10]

He now serves as the Gilas Pilipinas assistant coach and served as the Tropang Texters' team manager.[11][12][13] He was also appointed as a member of the FIBA Players Commission which will serve from 2014 to 2019.[14] For his supposed final PBA game, he played for the South All-Star Team for 2015 PBA All Star. He scored 12 points and dished out 14 assists.[15]

Coming out of retirement and return to basketball

On August 7, 2015 Alapag came out of retirement and was traded by the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters to the Blackwater Elite in exchange for Larry Rodriguez and then to the Meralco Bolts for Mike Cortez and James Sena.[16] He signed a two-year deal with the Meralco Bolts worth P10.08 million.[17]

Formal retirement in the PBA

On November 3, 2016, Alapag announced in a YouTube video by Alaska Aces player Eric Menk that he will no longer play for the Meralco Bolts in the 2016–17 PBA season hence his formal retirement in the PBA at the age of 39, after playing for 13 years for the Talk N' Text and Meralco teams.[18]

Coaching career

Gilas Pilipinas and Meralco

After retiring from international basketball, Alapag was quickly tapped by then-Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin as one of the team's assistant coaches. Alapag also served as an assistant coach and team consultant at the Meralco Bolts.

Alab Pilipinas

On August 12, 2017, Alapag announced through his Instagram account that he will be the new head coach for Alab Pilipinas of the ASEAN Basketball League. This will be Alapag's first major coaching role since his retirement from basketball.[1]

International career

Alapag played his first ever World Cup stint in Spain. He helped his team to win its first World Cup victory for the first time in 40 Years, beating Senegal. Despite his announcement of retiring from the national team after playing in the world cup, he accepted another offer after Jayson Castro was declared unable to play for the Asian Games in Incheon. During the tournament, the national team was expected to win gold because of their performance in the World Cup but went on to a disappointing run, losing three games in a row against Iran, Qatar, and the host, South Korea, respectively. At the end of the tournament, he retired from international basketball.

PBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

[19]

Season-by-season averages
Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003 Talk 'N Text 5437.6.222.354.7536.57.0.9.014.5
2004–05 Talk 'N Text 7734.0.407.360.7645.55.8.6.014.3
2005–06 Talk 'N Text 4135.2.382.335.7865.48.1.6.013.1
2006–07 Talk 'N Text 2831.2.420.347.7414.96.9.5.011.5
2007–08 Talk 'N Text 3930.8.421.361.7976.05.9.6.013.5
2008–09 Talk 'N Text 4631.8.412.406.8233.85.0.7.014.9
2009–10 Talk 'N Text 4732.1.333.360.8262.66.5.5.014.0
2010–11 Talk 'N Text 6330.3.379.349.8412.95.4.5.012.4
2011–12 Talk 'N Text 5228.1.383.348.7692.45.5.3.010.7
2012–13 Talk 'N Text 4926.4.396.370.8781.94.8.4.010.2
2013–14 Talk 'N Text 4625.6.380.324.8962.14.5.3.08.3
2014–15 Talk 'N Text 1215.3.543.485.9292.22.3.6.06.6
2015–16 Meralco 4722.5.410.367.8331.64.0.4.07.5
Career 60130.3.374.360.8033.85.7.5.012.1

Playing style

Alapag is known for his lethal 3-pointers from way beyond the arc, excellent passing and play making ability, and an intelligent decision making in the game, especially in the final seconds on the clock. Despite his small size, Alapag takes advantage of his speed and agility to break down his defender and pass it on his teammate or score by the lay-up.[6]

Personal life

Alapag's parents are Filipino immigrants Crispin and Aurora Alapag. He's the youngest of six siblings. He considers his father as well as his elder brother Crispin Jr. as his two greatest influences in basketball.[20]

He is currently married to Filipina actress LJ Moreno, with whom he has three children, Ian Maximus, Keona Skye, and Calen Asher.[21]

References
  1. Riego, Norman (August 12, 2017). "Alapag announced as new head coach for Alab Pilipinas". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  2. "Jimmy Alapag – the basketball 'The Mighty Mouse'. Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho one-on-one interview with 'The Mighty Mouse' on basketball court". Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  3. Halili, Mico. "The Final Score: Jimmy Alapag's parents saw something familiar in Game 3". www.gmanetwork.com. GMA News. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  4. Henson, Joaquin. "Fil-Am Jimmy Alapag: Big Little Man". www.philstar.com. Philippine Star. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  5. http://www.sportinglife360.com/index.php/basketball-player-profiles-jimmy-alapag-10717/,
  6. http://www.sportinglife360.com/index.php/basketball-player-profiles-jimmy-alapag-10717/
  7. Tupas, Cedelf P. "Talk N' Text ace Alapag bags PBA MVP award". inquirer.net. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  8. Umbao, Ed (16 January 2013). "Talk 'N Text Captured Philippine Cup Title Grand Slam". philnews.ph. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  9. Sacamos, Karlo. "Jimmy Alapag leapfrogs Magsanoc to move to No. 2 behind Caidic in three-point list". www.spin.ph. SPIN.ph. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  10. "Talk 'N Text retires Jimmy Alapag's jersey in tiff with Rain or Shine; Barako Bull, Blackwater clash". InterAksyon.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  11. "Jimmy Alapag retires". Rappler. January 9, 2015.
  12. Badua, Snow (January 9, 2015). "Jimmy Alapag retires, takes on new role as Talk 'N Text manager, Gilas assistant coach". spin.ph.
  13. Lozada, Bong (January 9, 2015). "'For me it's time', Alapag says as he retires". INQUIRER.net.
  14. "Alapag honored to be named to FIBA Players Commission". www.philstar.com. Philippine Star. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  15. INQUIRER.net. "NORTH WINS ALL-STAR GAME; SOUTH CLAIMS DANCEOFF PRIZE". inquirer.net. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  16. Ganglani, Naveen (August 7, 2015). "Jimmy Alapag to come out of retirement, will join Meralco after trade". rappler.com. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  17. "JIMMY ALAPAG, PUMIRMA NG TWO-YEAR CONTRACT SA MERALCO BOLTS". winradio.com.ph. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  18. "Former PBA MVP Jimmy Alapag announces retirement - this time 'for good'". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  19. Player Profile at PBA-Online!
  20. "YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  21. Dabu, Bianca Rose (June 23, 2016). "LJ Moreno talks about adoption, pregnancy woes". GMA News. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
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