MANILA (FIBA Asia Championship) - Jim Alapag rode a roller coaster of emotions the past couple of years with the Philippines.

The 36-year-old guard experienced the high of reaching the Final at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship in Manila with Gilas and then competing at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Seville, Spain, but he signed off from international hoops with a disappointing seventh-place finish at this year's Asian Games in Korea.

The team's performance in Incheon brought criticism and took some of the shine off what should have been a glorious year for Gilas.

Their participation in the World Cup was the first for the Filipinos since 1978, when they hosted the tournament.

Alapag, who has decided to draw the curtain his national team career, is sure to have more positive memories than negative.

"I don't think words can really express how it feels to play for Gilas and to play for our country until you put that jersey on," he said.

To win a game against Senegal in Group B, and push Croatia, Argentina and Puerto Rico to the limit as the Philippines did at the World Cup, showed that the country merited their spot in the 24-team tournament.

It also demonstrated that if the Philippines can build a solid national team program and continue to gain experience at the highest level, they could be a force.

"I really feel, as everybody saw in the World Cup, that we're really right there," Alapag said. 

"We're very, very capable of competing as the world's best.

"I think the results speak for themselves.

"The World Cup showed how many strides forward we've made when it comes to Philippine basketball and how much progress we've made."

The World Cup, even though it only wrapped up in September, is now in the past.

Alapag says the country must focus on the future.

That starts with freshening up the squad.

"I think when you have a 36-, 37-year-old point guard, it might be time to shift a little bit and get a little younger in that sense," he said to the media in the Philippines.

The departure from the court of Alapag and other senior players won't be the only change for the Philippines.

Chot Reyes recently announced he was not submitting his name to continue as coach.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios has apparently considered several candidates and wants to hire someone that will be the full-time coach of the team.

Alapag, who continues to play professionally in the Philippines, does not want to cut his ties with the national team program.

"I definitely want to stay involved in the future in some capacity," he said. 

"What that capacity will be as of yet, we'll have to wait and see."

FIBA