Battle of the Point Guards: Helterbrand vs Alapag

The Stats

Alapag, Jimmy 33.1 mpg 15.8 ppg 4.3 apg 6.6 rpg 0.8 spg 1.5 tpg
Helterbrand, Jayjay 36.4 mpg 17.0 ppg 4.6 apg 5.9 rpg 0.3 spg 2.0 tpg
as of April 25, 2009

Two of the premier point guards in the PBA right now are Jimmy "The Mighty Mouse" Alapag and JayJay "The Fast" Helterbrand, is featured in our head to head match up for this week. Both of them are unquestioned leader in their respective teams, they are the vital cog in Talk-n-Text Tropang Texters and Barangay Ginebra Kings, respectively.

The Mighty Mouse
Dubbed as the "The Might Mouse" in the league because of his frame 5 foot 9 playmaker, yet very deadly and explosive in the court. He entered the league in 2003, was picked no.10 by Talk-n-Text. He was born and raised in Upland, California, was one of the biggest three-point threats in the NCAA Division II during 1999-2000 season. That draft year was consedered to be the deepest draft pool in the PBA history.

Currently, Alapag leads the team in scoring next to their import - T-Wade, his deadly 3 point shot and assist abilty put him on that spot. Since his rookie year, he voted in the mythical team and he even was a member of Philippine National Team back in 2005 and 2007.

The Fast
JayJay Helterbrand is the other half of "The Fast and The Furious" of the Barangay Ginebra Kings along with Mark Caguioa. He was actually first played in Batangas Blades in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) in 2000, after 1 game he was signed by Ginebra on that year. In 2003, he went back to the States after his first contract with Ginebra expired. He came back at the start of 2004.

Currently, Helterbrand left to do all the chores because Caguioa is still recovering from the injury. Helterbrand possess the rare natural point guard abilities paired with his very quick first step in the open court and because of this made him one of the best point guards in the league. Currently, he basically replaces Alapag in the Philippine National Team.

The Comparison
Alapag is more on a scoring point guard and has quick first step that can penetrate the defense of the opposing team. While, Helterbrand has more height advantage than Alapag which makes him to score more and create more defense pressure on the opposing player. On contrary, Alapag has more leaping ability than Helterbrand, as their rebounds per game shows.

The Verdict
For this week's one-on-one matchups, I'll choose the "The Mighty Mouse" over the "The Fast".
Although, it depends on the situation where the coach call their names but I prefer on Alapag.
Alapag is the every coach dream to have in his team because of his play making superiority than Helterbrand. But not very far enough.

Till Next time.