Antipolo: The spotlight is on coach Jimmy Alapag and how his system will transform the NLEX Road Warriors as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors' Cup fires off Friday. The Road Warriors will face the Macau Giant Pandas in the 7:30 p.m. main game at Ynares Center in Antipolo. According to Philippines News Agency, in the opening game at 5:30 p.m., Titan Ultra and Terrafirma will square off, both determined to move on from disappointing campaigns in the previous Commissioner's Cup. Alapag spent almost six years in the National Basketball Association, first as assistant coach of the Stockton Kings, Sacramento's G League affiliate, in 2021. After three years, he was promoted to the Kings' mother club as player development coach. He retired for good from the PBA in 2016, then handled Alab Pilipinas, which ruled the 2017 ASEAN Basketball League. Alapag inherits the squad that topped the Commissioner's Cup elimination round before squandering its twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfin als against TNT Tropang 5G. Returning import DeQuan Jones is expected to again provide a major offensive boost after averaging more than 28 points during the 2024 Governors' Cup, when NLEX, under coach Jong Uichico, suffered the same fate -- losing to TNT in the first round of the playoffs. Attention will also be on how Alapag will maximize the talents of the local players, led by Robert Bolick and Kevin Alas. The Macau Giant Pandas will make their Governors' Cup debut with new import De'Vondre Perry, a 6-foot-6 swingman who recently played in Germany's ProA league. Perry is one of eight new imports in this conference. In the previous conference as the Black Knights, guest team Macau managed only three wins in 12 games and failed to qualify for the playoffs. NLEX, Macau, defending champion TNT, San Miguel Beer, Converge, Titan Ultra and Terrafirma are in Group A. Group B is composed of Barangay Ginebra, Rain or Shine, Magnolia, Meralco, Phoenix Super LPG and Blackwater. Teams will face each other twice with in their groups during the elimination round. The top four teams in each group will advance to the crossover quarterfinals. The Dyip finished with a 4-10 record for 10th place, while the Giant Risers ended with a 2-10 mark for 12th place in the Commissioner's Cup. 'Bakbakan sigurado iyon (It will be a real fight),' Dyip coach Ronald Tubid said. 'We want to win, they want to win also so tingnan na lang natin kung sino maka-una. Sa matchup naman tingin ko makaka-match up naman kami sa kanila. Siguro kung sino mas determined, mas gustong manalo (we'll see who makes it first. In terms of matchup, I think we're even. I guess the more determined team, the one who wants it more [will win]).' Fans will also be watching how Tirrell Brown leads Titan Ultra's offense alongside locals Joshua Munzon, Fran Yu, Cade Flores and JB Sajonia. The same is expected of Terrafirma import Justin Strings, who will get help from locals Juami Tiongson, Maverick Ahanmisi, Joseph Eriobu, Geo Chiu and Brent Paraiso. Brown, 32, played pr ofessionally in leagues in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay. In his most recent stint with Caimanes del Llano in the Colombian Liga Basket, he averaged 13.8 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, while shooting 68.5 percent from the two-point area.