Player of the Week: Mark Caguioa

ANY coach would like a Mark Caguioa on his team. For sure, Barangay GInebra’s
Jong Uichico does.
“Mark Caguioa is a competitor. He’s a fighter, ayaw magpatalo,” said Uichico of
the prolific guard-forward chosen as the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the
Week for the period April 11 to 18 after helping boost the Kings into the
semifinals and tantalizingly close to a Commissioner’s Cup Finals stint.
“It’s really nice to have a player like (him) in your team. it’s positive.”He’s
just so competitive that he wants to win… and sometimes you’d rather have that
than somebody who won’t fight at all.”
Such a competitive spirit was translated into more concrete form by the 2001
Rookie of the Year to the tune of 21.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3
steals in the three victories Ginebra notched in the week that was.
He highlighted his sterling performances with a 30-point, 11-rebound game in a
92-82 win against Rain or Shine last Wednesday, enabling Ginebra to buck an
unusually cold night from import Nate Brumfield.
Brumfield shot just 4-for-12 from the field and wound with just 12 points. That
didn’t matter as, no little thanks to Caguioa’s best performance since the 2010
Fiesta Conference, the Kings wrapped up their best-of-three quarterfinals duel
with the Elasto Painters, 2-1.
In the first two games of the race-to-three semis match-up with No. 2 seed
Smart-Gilas, Brumfield picked up his game and led Ginebra to 97-96 and 110-103
triumphs. But Caguioa remained as the top local King by averaging 17.0 points in
those outings.
Those wins pushed Ginebra within another of booking a seat in the championship
series and Caguioa is one player sure to crank up his game even more if that
objective is realized.
That should spell even more bad news for the opposition.
Caguioa beat out Talk N Text’s Ranidel de Ocampo (18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds in
two semis games) for his second such citation for the conference after being
similarly honored for the period March 24-30.PR