Alapag paces rookie derby

The way grizzled observers see it, there were several teams who could have picked up Jimmy Alapag long before Talk ‘n Text made him the 10th selection overall.

The way grizzled observers see it, there are currently several team personnel who are banging their heads on the sharp corners of the locker room in the current Samsung Philippine Basketball Association All-Filipino Cup for allowing the pint-sized playmaker to reach the 10th pick overall.

However, the way Jimmy Alapag sees it he hasn’t proven anything just yet.

"We’re still in the middle of the season so I don’t think there’s a verdict out yet. There’s still a lot of work to be accomplished," said the 5-7 former national pool member.

Already, though, Alapag is making heads spin. Not just those of his defenders, who often get lost the moment he puts on a sudden burst of speed on the way to the basket.

At the end of the elimination round, Alapag led all rookies in scoring (16.1 points per game) and assists (7.1 assists per game). As if that were not enough, he came in and won the three-point shootout during the All-Star break.

His output in points and assists is better than Alaska’s Mike Cortez, the point guard who received most of the hype in the offseason when Alaska made him

the No. 1 pick overall. Cortez, however, still put up pretty decent numbers, as he averaged 13.3 points and 4.6 assists per game, No. 2 in both departments among

rookies.

He also led rookies in steals with 1.8 per game.

If voting for the Rookie of the Year race were held today, Alapag and Cortez would be engaged in the toughest and closest balloting for the once-in-a-lifetime award in league history.

Having an outside shot are Talk ‘n Text’s rebounding demon Harvey Carey and Shell’s daredevil Ronald Tubid. Carey leads all rookies in rebounding with a little

over 10 per game, while Tubid is third among neophytes in scoring with 11.7 per game.

Slam dunk king Brandon Lee Cablay of Alaska is also showing off lately and could make a run for the award.

Right now, though, it looks as if Alapag has an early headstart among this year’s batch of freshmen. He and Carey have lifted Talk ‘n Text a lot this season, a fact that even main man Asi Taulava agrees.

"Our rookies are making things a lot easier for the team. It’s nice to have these two guys around," said Taulava.

Asked if he believes he has surpassed all expectations already and made believers out of cynics, Alapag just shrugged.

"We’ll never know until the end of the season," he said.