The Final Score: Jimmy Alapag does it again, and again, and again

Jimmy Alapag has the ball. His team needs a three-point shot. Time is running out. You don’t check the score sheet. You don’t look at tournament percentages. You just hold your breath and wait for Jimmy to prove that your confidence and anxiety are justified. In a sense, the past and the future in this particular game don’t matter. It means little if Jimmy has missed his last ten attempts. It means even less if he misses his next ten field goals. It’s about owning one moment.

[Related: Talk 'N Text wins as Petron topples in OT ]

If you’re a Talk ‘N Text fan, it’s the perfect scenario. Jimmy has ice, the coldest you can find, so cold a thermometer no longer knows how to measure it, running through his veins. He goes into this arctic trance by transporting himself emotionally from 6:30pm back to 2:30pm earlier that day. He seems to remember how he arrived at half past two in the afternoon to shoot warm-up three-pointers inside the Smart Araneta Coliseum before everyone else. He uses 2:30pm to prepare for 6:30pm.

If you’re an opposing fan, like Petron supporters last night, it’s the worst deal. Jimmy has the ability to swing momentum. Like all well-decorated snipers, he has the license to shoot. Ultimately, as you watch him prepare to shoot, while you helplessly raise your hands and lock them on top of your head, as you let out a hyperextended "noooooo," Jimmy has you by the nuts.

Feel free to compute the digits. What is Alapag’s efficiency from three-point range in close games? What is his shooting clip in the last two minutes of heart-stopping contests? Does he have the numbers to back up such audacity? Such computations would be interesting to digest. Compelling stuff. But when you see Jimmy with the ball during an arduous duel between Petron and Talk ‘N Text, you don’t see numbers anymore.

You know what I see? I see Jvee Casio, in his La Salle jersey, in the very same shooting position, in the very same scenario, in the very same arena. I’m an Atenean. I know this too well. Past and future don’t matter. Jvee may have missed his last one hundred three-point attempts. He may miss his next one hundred three-point field goals. Trust me, it hardly matters at that moment. Jvee has the ball. He can tie the game. He can swing momentum. He can rip our hearts into unrecognizable pieces.

Then it happens.

Like it often does.

Jimmy makes the three.

Jimmy ties the game.

Jimmy swings momentum in favor of Talk ‘N Text.

Jimmy, eventually, helps his team win in overtime.

The basketball world erupts. Alapag’s fans clench their fists and punch them though the air. They celebrate the unwavering ways of a modest-sized man with a mammoth-sized heart. They scream, “Jimmmmmmmy!!!” Twitter explodes. Opposing fans drop their shoulders, with hands on waist and mouths agape. Jimmy Alapag has the ball. His team needs a three-point shot. Time is running out. What happens next is no longer a surprise. - AMD, GMA News