Gilas Pilipinas: True Pinoy Grit

Photo courtesy of damarre.wordpress.com

For all the stories, myths and urban legends thrown around about one Johnny Abarrientos and his exploits in the late 90s, we argue that Jimmy Alapag has earned to be mentioned in the same breath, if not higher.

The body of work, the championships and arguably our biggest Abarrientos VS Alapag tie-breaker: longevity and consistency.

But let's get to the "who's better" debate some other time. We are here to talk about Alapag, no longer in his prime and even a lock to NOT start for Gilas Pilipinas come the FIBA Asia tournament next month. His inclusion was born more out of "experience" and "familiarity" with head coach Chot Reyes' system more than actually being one of the best at his position today (he's still up there, but younger guys have slowly closed the gap-- Gilas teammate L.A. Tenorio, JVee Casio, Alex Cabagnot, Mike Cortez and Paul Lee).


Alapag's inclusion seems odd, if only because we have Tenorio, Jayson Castro and even Gabe Norwood already on the roster and all capable of running the show.  It also doesn't help our cause that we've chosen to load up more on guards rather than wings when our neighboring countries are bringing in their best and biggest (that Iranian team looks nasty). What happens when our bigs fall to foul trouble and we're left pinning our hopes on Japeth Aguilar down in the shaded lane? Also, anytime the opponent brings in a point guard who can actually post up (Iran, South Korea), Tenorio and Alapag will have long nights all throughout and force us in a bad spot.

There was a time when Alapag could easily blitz into the lane for easy lay-ins, but the guy's no longer a spring chicken. His best move of course, is his patented long three balls be it on the break of in half court sets. We're not so sure if he'll be given that much clearance this time around having played for Pilipinas for so long (and respected by our Asian counterparts, just ask the recently banned Lebanese team).

But, what we are sure of, and why we've always had a soft spot in our hearts for Alapag no matter how "boring" his Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters seem to be, is that this guy always, always fights.

The concentration, the dedication, the fight in the Mighty Mouse never waivers no matter the situation. He's almost like the Filipino Kobe Bryant (mentally) in the way he approaches the game. Fun and games are nice, but not when you're playing 48 minutes of basketball. He's who and what every Filipino player should idolize and ultimately strive to become (specially the not so gifted- height wise).

So yeah, despite our earlier hesitation re Alapag's Gilas inclusion, the man deserves his spot. If we are to make the FIBA Worlds or the Olympics, then it is by holding on to who we are as a proud basketball country.  It's what has helped Alapag overcome so many challenges (say, breaking his hand and not being able to suit up outright the very first time he tried for a Pilipinas Men's Basketball team spot) and endure the last decade or so.

All heart.