THERE won’t be a Mark Caguioa suiting up for Barangay Ginebra in the Final Four of the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup.
Make that up to the best-of-seven Finals should the defending champion Kings reached that far in the season-ending tournament.
Coach Jong Uichico bared the high-scoring guard will be out for the remainder of the season as he continues to rehabilitate from his knee injury.
Uichico said the team already left Caguioa out of its official lineup going into the semifinals.
May 30 was the cut-off date for all teams to submit their final rosters to the PBA office.
“We finally decided not to put him in the lineup,” said the soft-spoken mentor. “He can play, but hindi talaga 100 percent.”
Caguioa has not played a single game for the league’s crowd darling this season owing to a knee injury, a condition that also cost him a slot in the Powerade Team Pilipinas of coach Yeng Guiao.
The prolific Ginebra stalwart has since undergone knee operation and rehabilitation in the U.S. since early this year, with a hope of him joining the team midway into the Fiesta Cup.
But Uichico said at this point, Caguioa is still 80-90 percent healed from the injury.
“Maganda `yung improvement niya from February until April, that’s why we’re hoping he could make a comeback by May. But somehow, nitong mga nakaraang araw medyo bumagal `yung recovery niya.
“So we deemed it more proper not to let him play na lang. Huwag na lang muna madaliin dahil sayang lang kung ma-injured siya uli.”
The Ginebra coach said he’s in constant talk with Caguioa and even with his therapist.
“Right now, we’re trying to get him over here para ditto na siya mag-continue ng rehabilitation,” Uichico added.
Without their top leading scorer last season, Uichico said the Kings have lost one major offensive option, a big factor the team will be missing in their title retention bid.
“Mark is always good for 15 points or more on any given night. He’s always a scoring threat for our opponents,” Uichico admitted.
But even without Caguioa, life goes on for the Kings, who clinched an outright semifinals berth two weeks ago by beating the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in a playoff, 114-71.
The Kings won seven of their last eight games in the eliminations to turn things around following a slow start that saw them struggle with a 1-5 record.
“We’ve survived at this point without him (Caguioa). So we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll be able to go farther now that we’re fully aware Mark is not going to play for us,” said Uichico.
Ginebra will be meeting the winner of the quarterfinals series between Rain or Shine and Purefoods in the semis.
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