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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Coach Jimmy eyes winning start as NLEX takes on Macau

Coach Jimmy eyes winning start as NLEX takes on Macau

Published Jul 9, 2026 02:19 pm

At A Glance

  • Newly minted head coach Jimmy Alapag is eyeing a winning start to his new career at the PBA sidelines as NLEX takes on the rebranded Macau in the main event of the opening twin bill of the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Friday, July 10.

Newly minted head coach Jimmy Alapag is eyeing a winning start to his new career at the PBA sidelines as NLEX takes on the rebranded Macau in the main event of the opening twin bill of the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Friday, July 10.

On his first head coaching gig in the PBA following a six-year career as assistant coach in the NBA, Alapag is looking begin his career on a high note just as the Road Warriors are eyeing a fresh start after suffering an early exit last conference despite holding on to a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

The new partnership, however, will be immediately tested by Macau, which is making a return as a guest team after a forgettable last conference. This time, the team is hoping that the new branding, as it now carries the Giant Pandas moniker, will also bring new fortunes for the team.

Tip-off of the clash is at 7:30 p.m., with a duel between Terrafirma and Titan Ultra, which both suffered early exits in the mid-season conference, also looking to jumpstart the brand new conference with a win in the first offering at 5:15 p.m.

Knowing full well the history of the Road Warriors, Alapag stressed that he doesn’t care about the team’s past shortcomings as they intended to focus on moving forward.

“I thought they had a great elimination round. Unfortunately, things didn't work out in the quarterfinals. But my message to them was, I don't care what happened in the quarterfinals. I think it's important for us, together with the rest of the staff, to start building on their success in the elimination," said Alapag.

"I think the immediate goal is just to build on their success in the eliminations in the last conference and hopefully carry that into a deeper playoff run. And the great part is even if they fell short in the quarterfinals, I still think it was a valuable experience for everybody on the team," he added.

Alapag is certainly not lacking in talent in that NLEX lineup, especially adding Evan Nelle through a trade this offseason to join forces with Robert Bolick, Deschon Winston, Kevin Alas, LJ Gonzales and import Dequan Jones.

The Giant Pandas, on the other hand, stacked up talent adding Kobey Lam to its crew as well as import Devondre Perry to join the likes of Ramon Cao, Jenning Leung, Damion Chongqui and Phoenix Shackelford.

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Jimmy Alapag PBA Season 50 PBA Governors\' Cup
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