RETURN OF THE KING
Top gun Caguioa returns to Ginebra
By Francis Thimsel J. Ochoa
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:19:00 09/26/2009
Filed Under: Basketball, Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)
CASUALLY SEATED on a plastic chair at the sidelines of the Greenmeadows gym, Barangay Ginebra coach Jong Uichico took a long, hard look at the player that one of the Kings’ trainers was rubbing down and stretching.
“He’s not a hundred percent yet,” the soft-spoken mentor said, “but he’s improved a lot since he first practiced and it’s comforting knowing that we can play him once the season starts.”
The player, of course, is Mark Caguioa, the unquestioned top gun of Barangay Ginebra who missed an entire season because of a patellar tear and watched the Kings plod their way to one quarterfinals and one finals appearance.
The 6-foot-1 firebrand agrees with his coach’s assessment, but, Caguioa said, he needs a little time.
“As the season goes [on], I can get back to being ‘The Spark,’” said Caguioa, referring to the moniker attached to him for most of the seven seasons he spent in the PBA—all with Ginebra.
“[But] in the beginning, I don’t think I can play the way I’d like to play.”
Caguioa missed the entire 2008-09 season because of the knee injuries, a year after averaging 19.8 points (third in the league), 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 32.1 minutes per game on the way to being named to the mythical first team.
Without his best offensive option, Uichico somehow managed to steer the Kings to a quarterfinal stint in the Philippine Cup and a championship appearance in the Fiesta Conference, where they forced a powerhouse San Miguel squad into a seventh game before yielding.
And with Caguioa—who has worked out with the team for the past month-and-a-half—back in the fold, expectations are naturally high.
“It’s always good to have Mark fit and ready to play but as far as our chances go this season, it really depends on the really strong teams like Talk ‘N Text, San Miguel, Alaska and Purefoods,” said Uichico.
“Those are the teams that can really contend for the two championship slots and we will just go out and try to steal one of those slots,” he added.
Caguioa also doesn’t expect the Kings to be on top of the list of favorites just because he’s finally suiting up. But he knows that his presence will make a difference.
“I never put pressure on myself; never put pressure on my team,” he said. “I’m not that kind of person. I’m just a laid-back chill kind of guy. It’s not saying that I don’t care. It’s just how I play the game. The more you put pressure on yourself, the more you get nervous.”
“But I know that if I’m a hundred percent, we have a chance to win the championship.”
Currently, Caguioa is working to get into peak condition.
“He’s around 80 to 90 percent ready,” said assistant coach Art dela Cruz. “His timing is there and he just has to get his legs back.”
As the players huddled around Uichico to wrap up practice, there was a palpable sense of optimism that emanated from the mass of red jerseys. And although there were a host of new faces in that huddle, there was no denying where all that hopefulness burst from.
Uichico, sitting casually on a plastic stool at courtside while the lights were being killed, was staring right at him.
Source: http://sports.inquirer.net/professional/professional/view/20090926-226995/Top-gun-Caguioa-returns-to-Ginebra
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