Veteran Alapag is week’s best

JIMMY Alapag may be getting up there in mileage but certainly, his role as the unequivocal leader of the Talk N Text Tropang Texters remains untouched as he came up with two big outings that earned him the Player of the Week award for the period of Nov. 19 to 25 in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup.

In TNT’s back-to-back wins over San Mig Coffee and Air21, Alapag averaged 18.5 points, 5.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds as the defending champion assured itself of at least a playoff berth for the No. 2 spot and its accompanying twice-to-beat advantage in the ensuing quarterfinals.

Alapag’s role now is to usually play backup to spitfire guard Jayson Castro, but that did not keep the veteran playmaker from doing damage as he shot 11-for-14 from the field, including 7-for-9 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripes in those two recent outings. Alapag has started in just three of the 11 games he has played so far.

He showcased that by scoring a personal conference-high 19 points in just the first three quarters in pointing the way for TNT’s 92-63 demolition of archrival San Mig Coffee last Wednesday.

The 2003 Rookie of the Year followed that up with 18 points in a 100-94 repeat over Air21 last Sunday in a performance that featured eight points and two of his six assists in the decisive fourth period, giving the Texters full separation from the Express. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio