Barangay Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa is a glib talker while Coca-Cola’s Ali Peek is a man of few words.
Yet both are driven by the same passion, making them stand out — and tow their respective teams in the process — in the first week of the PBA Philippine Cup.
The defending champion Gin Kings and the Tigers are on top of the heap with identical 2-0 win-loss slates and Caguioa and Peek were big factors in those surges, making them the PBA Press Corps‚ Gran Matador Co-Players of the Week for the period March 5-12.
Caguioa opened up the Kings‚ title-retention bid by pouring in a tournament-high 39 points in a 98-81 win over Talk N Text last Wednesday. He followed that up with 23 points and 10 rebounds in their come-from-behind 98-93 victory over Sta. Lucia Realty last Sunday.
It is not by sheer coincidence that Caguioa is putting up such big numbers. He has to live up to a promise made before a nationwide television audience.
"We will walk without clothes in the Baywalk area if we don’t win the championship," Caguioa stated in a pre-conference TV primer by ABC-5.