San Miguel Alab Pilipinas heads into the 10th season of the ASEAN Basketball League on a high.
On Monday evening, the third-year ball club scored a 93-89 victory over the Tim Cone-coached Gilas Pilipinas, which is preparing for the 30th Southeast Asian Games on November 30-December 11.
Alab head coach Jimmy Alapag said that he and his wards did not think much of the friendly’s result, since they were simply aiming to do better after bowing to Gilas in their first meeting last week, 95-98.
Still, they managed to come out with the win that will definitely boost their morale for the upcoming ABL season.
“Our approach coming in wasn’t so much relying on the result. We just wanted to be better than how we played last week,” said the PBA legend moments after the match at the Meralco Gym in Pasig.
Alapag said that they were also aiming to improve their chemistry since they have just added Nick King, who has taken over Renaldo Balkman as he had to go back home for family matters.
“We had a late import change, so this is an important game just for us as a team to get our imports on the floor, building on that chemistry,” said the second-year Alab chief mentor.
And so far, with what he had seen from his chargers in the win, Alapag has nothing but praises.
“We were active and unselfish. Having twenty-five assists was the same amount that we had last week. For me as a head coach, that’s really encouraging to see the guys play together this early,” he said.
“That’s gonna have to be a staple for us, being active defensively. With the lineup we have this year, we’re versatile with guys that can play multiple positions. And offensively, just being unselfish.”
The new season now unfolds this Sunday. Alab will immediately be put to the test as it goes head-to-head with Thailand’s Mono Vampire BC, whom it defeated to win the crown back in 2018.
Still, Alapag is looking forward to it. Asked for his and his team’s goals for this season, he said that they are looking to get a crack on the championship once more after losing it last season.
Alab was consistently at the top of the standings during the eliminations, until injuries to key players got in its way. It eventually fell in the quarterfinals after getting swept by Hong Kong Eastern.
“I still remember what happened last season. I didn’t forget. You guys should know me by now, I don’t like to lose. We’ll prepare and give ourselves a chance for a run at the championship this year.”
