Returning Alapag to provide leadership for Meralco

MANILA, Philippines – Coach Norman Black said Jimmy Alapag is bringing a lot with him in his return from retirement and in his transfer from Talk n Text to Meralco.

With Alapag, Black has got a more stable backcourt and a coaching extension on the floor.

The 2011 MVP awardee, turning 38 in December, is to play a key role at Meralco, providing leadership and mentoring young guards Simon Atkins, Anjo Caram and Baser Amer.

He missed the PBA Season 41 opening ceremonies as he was attending the meeting of the FIBA players’ commission in Geneva, Switzerland. But he’s back.

“I’m excited to be back as part of the PBA family. Looking forward to the 41st season,” he said.

In Geneva, he sat down in a meeting with luminaries including commission chairman Vlade Divac, Sweden’s Elisabeth Egnell, Senegal’s Boniface N’Dong, Argentina’s Fabricio Oberto, Brazil’s Adriana Santos, Nigeria’s Olumide Oyedeji, the United States’ Katie Smith, Finland’s Hanno Mottola, Belgium’s Tomas Van Den Spiegel and Slovenia’s Radoslav Nesterovic.

He was nominated to the commission, representing Asia, after his remarkable performance in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

At the House of Basketball in the FIBA headquarters, Alapag was proud to see the Gilas Pilipinas basketball from the World Cup as part of the historic memorabilia on display.

He hopes to put in more proud performances in his PBA comeback.

He was away in the last two conferences, having decided earlier that he’s done playing.

But he felt the itch to play again as he joined the Gilas pool of coach Tab Baldwin last August.

He played a few minutes in one game in Gilas’ Estonian training trip.