He’s back
The PBA Governors’ Cup opens July 10 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, with Jimmy Alapag making his return to the league as NLEX coach.
Alapag met with management and signed his contract on Monday.
The Road Warriors face guest team Macau in the second game of the opening doubleheader, and Alapag is expected to take over from Jong Uichico after reports surfaced last week linking the former PBA Most Valuable Player to the franchise.
“It had been discussed already before and the team just waited for management to make the announcement,” a league source told the Inquirer on Monday.
The source added that the team had already been “informed of possible changes” within the coaching structure. Uichico, the source added, would likely still be part of the coaching staff.
The former Gilas Pilipinas captain returned to the Philippines over the weekend to discuss how to proceed moving forward.
Alapag left for the United States in 2020 at the height of the pandemic to pursue coaching opportunities. He spent the last five years with the Sacramento Kings organization, first as an assistant with the NBA G League’s Stockton Kings before joining the NBA club as a player development coach. Before leaving, he coached Alab Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League and served as an assistant with San Miguel Beer.
Terrafirma opens the season against Titan Ultra in the first game of the twinbill. The Dyip enter the conference after reacquiring Juami Tiongson in a trade that sent Jerrick Ahanmisi and Paolo Hernandez to San Miguel.
The conference will run until December, with a lengthy mid-elimination break to accommodate Gilas Pilipinas’ commitments in the Fiba (International Basketball Federation) Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers and the Asian Games in Nagoya.
Play will come to a halt on Aug. 14 and resume on Oct. 7. Games will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, primarily at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Ninoy Aquino Stadium and Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Ynares Center in Montalban, Rodriguez, Rizal will host three playdates, including the July 11 doubleheader featuring Blackwater against Rain or Shine and Magnolia versus Phoenix, followed by NLEX against Terrafirma and Converge versus Titan on July 12. The Mall of Asia Arena will stage two elimination-round playdates.
Barangay Ginebra opens its campaign July 19 against Phoenix at the Araneta Coliseum, while defending champion TNT begins its title defense the same day against Macau.
The league’s 13 teams have been divided into two groups and will play a double-round elimination format within their brackets. The top four teams from each group will advance to the crossover quarterfinals.
Group A is composed of TNT, San Miguel Beer, NLEX, Converge, Terrafirma, Titan and Macau. Group B includes Barangay Ginebra, Magnolia, Meralco, Blackwater, Phoenix and Rain or Shine.
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