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By MARISSE PANALIGAN, GMA News
August 27, 2019
WHEN GILAS PILIPINAS qualified for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, Erwin Del Valle knew he had to be there.
It was the first time the Philippines made it back to the world stage of basketball in four decades. So when it became final that Gilas Pilipinas would play its games in Seville, Erwin immediately filed a vacation leave from his job as a database administrator in the United Kingdom, where he and his wife had migrated in 2011.
After booking tickets and a hotel room, Erwin knew he couldn’t be there simply as a spectator. He decided to come in different costumes for each of the games.
He attended the match-up against Greece an Igorot costume, proudly showing off the country’s indigenous culture. His wife, meanwhile, wore a Larry Fonacier jersey from Ateneo and had Philippine flags painted on both her cheeks. He also carried a huge Philippine flag with him during the games.
The cameras eventually spotted him, and he found himself frequently on the stadium’s jumbotron. He became an instant celebrity of sorts, indulging many requests to take pictures with him, including the dancers hired for the half-time performance.
“I was inspired watching FIFA 2014 sa TV — ang dami lang fans having fun na naka-costume,” Erwin tells GMA News Online. “May naka-Spartan costume from Greece, and we had a fun time chatting and taking pics. Warrior versus warrior ‘di ba?”
For the game against Puerto Rico, Erwin wore an Andres Bonifacio costume. For the other games, he wore brand new Gilas Pilipinas jerseys brought to London by one of his friends, who happened to be a pilot for the Philippine Airlines.
“That time, blank Gilas jerseys lang benta ng Nike sa Pinas — pina-personalize pa ‘yun sa Boni High to put the number and names. White kay Jimmy [Alapag], blue kay LA [Tenorio],” Erwin says.
In Gilas Pilipinas’ final game of the tournament, Erwin decided to wear the jersey of Alapag, the national team’s longtime captain. It was a fitting tribute — at that time, the veteran point guard said he was retiring from international basketball after the World Cup.
It was mere happenstance that Erwin found himself wearing an Alapag jersey for the game; it simply happened to be the last one he had yet to wear in the tournament.
Little did he know that the same jersey would go on an adventure around the world.
JAYSON CASTRO PICKED UP the loose ball after a turnover by Argentinian guard Facundo Campazzo. The Gilas Pilipinas sentinel pushed it hard down the floor. After crossing half court, he made a bounce pass to his left. Gabe Norwood caught the rock as longtime NBA forward Luis Scola rushed inside the lane to block his path to the rim.
What happened next was easily the most memorable play for the Philippines in the World Cup. With three and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter against Argentina, Norwood dribbled once, gathered the ball, and jumped. Scola leaped to contest the shot, but ended up in a dunk worthy of a poster.
Under the basket where the play just occurred, a 14-year-old boy from Rosario, Argentina could not believe his eyes. His team, ranked third in the world, was down by seven points, 19-12, against the Philippines, ranked no. 34.
“I didn’t know any of Philippines players before the game so I got a big surprise when they started to play,” Álvaro Roig, now 19, tells GMA News Online.
He traveled to Spain in 2014 together with his father and some friends for the FIBA World Cup to watch Argentina’s Golden Generation in their final basketball tournament. The legendary Manu Ginobili decided to skip the tournament, but Alvaro was still hopeful that his country would win a medal.
Álvaro was born a year before the legendary trio of Scola, Ginobili, and Andrés Nocioni first played together in the 2001 Tournament of the Americas. The following year, they became the first team to beat a United States squad that had NBA players in the lineup. They replicated the feat in the 2004 Olympics, beating the Americans in the semifinals en route to their first basketball gold medal.
“The Argentina Golden Generation is always a motivation for all the athletes here in my country,” Álvaro says. “The things they made and the values they passed will endure for always in Argentinian sport.”
But attending the FIBA World Cup introduced him to other great players outside the Americas. And he found one of them while watching that Argentina-Philippines game — the guy who shot five three-pointers to turn a 68-53 Argentina lead into an 82-81 dogfight late in the game.
“When I saw Alapag play I was amazed about his game. He is small but a great point guard, he can score, he has a very good passing ability and a great reading of the game,” Álvaro says.
Argentina ended up winning the game, 85-81, but Alapag won himself a fan.
Álvaro watched the Philippines’ final game of the tournament against Senegal, sitting in the stands as Gilas’ Mighty Mouse scored 18 points while taking control in the extra period to secure the country’s first World Cup victory in 40 years.
“When I went to Spain, I had the idea of exchanging some shirt of mine with one of another country,” Álvaro says. “And when I saw the one of Alapag after watching the Philippines vs Senegal game, I told myself, ‘That's the one I want.’”
ERWIN WAS RIGHT THERE when Jimmy Alapag went to the Philippine side of the crowd after Gilas Pilipinas’ historic victory against Senegal. He heard it clearly when the captain said, “Thank you, we got one,” to Filipino fans while shaking hands and giving high-fives, grateful for their support the whole tournament.
“Sobrang saya kasi naming lahat na after all the close games, uuwi kaming panalo,” Erwin says.
He stayed in the stadium after all the festivities had died down, just soaking in the energy and the atmosphere while waiting for everyone else to clear the exits. And that’s when a group of Argentinians approached him.
“The dad introduced himself and his family, and told me his son was a big fan of Jimmy because of his performance that week,” Erwin says. “Tapos they asked na if pwede maki-pag swap ng jersey.”
Erwin hesitated. Even though it was brand new, the jersey had sentimental value to him. And then he asked whose jersey he would get in the exchange.
The boy, Álvaro, offered a jersey of his country’s legend: Manu Ginobili.
Erwin had been a long-time fan of the San Antonio Spurs. He also became a fan of Argentina because of Ginobili, and because of their 2002 victory against USA. But in the end, what made him accept the exchange was the thought of Jimmy Alapag.
“The deciding factor was really imagining a kid playing pick-up ball in Argentina wearing Jimmy’s jersey,” Erwin says. “S’yempre people and players will ask who Jimmy is, and he will tell the story of the Mighty Mouse of Gilas 2014.”
“You know that MJ Nike commercial kung saan kids/teens were able to execute MJ moves, and MJ was watching and smiling? Replace MJ with Jimmy, and that’s exactly what was playing through my mind during the exchange.”
IT TURNS OUT, Erwin’s imagination was right on the money.
“I wear the shirt, I train with it almost every day,” Álvaro says. “When people ask about it I tell them this story about how I got it. And when they ask me about the name written on the shirt I told them how good Jimmy Alapag is!”
Álvaro currently plays point guard for Club Atletico Temperley in his hometown. He recently won a championship with his team, and when he posted the photo in his Instagram account, Jimmy Alapag was there to express his approval with a Like.
“I consider Jimmy Alapag one of the best point guards,” Álvaro says. “He is an inspiration for me — he is not very tall as I am, but he has a great heart and when he plays you know he will give everything for his team and that encourages me to keep training and be like him in that way.”
To get the Jimmy Alapag jersey, Álvaro had to give away his first Argentina jersey.
And even though he would wear the jersey of someone most people in his country had not even heard of, Álvaro does not regret it at all, not even a tiny bit.
“It is a very special shirt for me for all the meaning it has, it is unique. I don't think anybody in Argentina has a Philippines basketball shirt,” he said.
Erwin also thinks fondly of the Manu jersey he got from the swap. He plans to wear it for his basketball “unretirement,” just waiting to dust it up for his next pick-up game. He hasn't played in a while, because unlike in the Philippines, pick-up games are difficult to come by in London.
“Actually, my dream is to play him one-on-one, wearing the jerseys. Pero he’s a teen now, and looks big— ‘di na kasya ‘yung jersey ni Jimmy,” Erwin says of Álvaro.
On that count, he is wrong. And when Álvaro heard about Erwin’s dream, he is all for it. “I love that idea! It would be great.”
True ballers never back down from a challenge, even when issued from the other side of the world. Just ask Jimmy Alapag.
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