 In 2002, he had his first crack of Philippine basketball when he was invited by then-national team coach Jong Uichico to try out for the Philippine National Team bound for 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.Alapag was selected 10th overall pick in the 2003 PBA draft by the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals and was considered the "steal of the draft".Later on, Alapag formed a dynamic duo with slotman Asi Taulava to lead the Phone Pals to the All-Filipino Cup Championship by beating the Coca-Cola Tigers in the finals, after overcoming the 0-2 deficit to the Tigers and winning the last four games in the series to capture its first ever title.