TNT star Castro grateful for Alapag’s help
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2019 08:52:37 +0000
TNT KaTropa’s Jayson Castro paid tribute to San Miguel Beer assistant coach Jimmy Alapag for the knowledge imparted to him when they were teammates with the flagship franchise of Manny V. Pangilinan.
Castro and Alapag formed a dynamic backcourt to lead TNT to five championships between 2009 to 2013, including a historic three-peat in the centerpiece PBA Philippine Cup.
JAYSON Castro is thankful to have Jimmy Alapag as one of his ‘big’ brotherrs before.
They also helped lead Gilas Pilipinas to a historic World Cup appearance in 2014, with Castro emerging as one of Asia’s best guard, if not the best.
Alapag has since moved on to coaching where he was eventually tapped as part of Leo Austria’s coaching staff at the Beermen before the start of the season.
TNT and SMB are facing off in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals, with Alapag forced to help Austria map out a gameplan to stop his former team from winning it all.
“Sobrang thankful ako na naging captain ko siya, naging leader sa amin,” Castro said.
“Kung hindi dahil sa kanya, di rin ako makaka-perform ng ganito sa Gilas at saka sa PBA,” he added. “Lahat ng mga tinuro niya, inabsorb ko lahat yun. So sobrang thankful ako, and then unti-unti inaapply ko sa mge teammates ko.”
Castro showed Alapag how far he has come, posting 20 points, four rebounds and three assists on Sunday as he finished what import Terrence Jones started to give TNT a 103-92 win. (JONAS TERRADO)