Caguioa's past shapes him to become Mr. Furious

MANILA, Philippines – Not many knew that Mark Caguioa almost became a Talk n Text Tropang Texter.

As the reigning MVP works hard for his comeback bid from an MCL injury, Caguioa bared to Philstar.com that he was a trade away from being drafted by their current semifinal opponent back in 2001.

But as fate would have it, Ginebra rejected Talk n Text’s offer then took Caguioa as the third overall pick in that year’s draft that drew the “who’s-this-dude?” reaction from the fans.

“Ang naka-scout talaga sa akin ay si coach Frankie (Lim).  Talk n Text ang talagang kukuha sa akin nun kaso naintriga ang Ginebra nung nakikipag-trade ang TnT to move up from fourth to third pick,” Caguioa remembered.

In that year, Red Bull (now known as Barako Bull) went on to draft Willie Miller as the top overall pick followed by Mike Hrabak of the defunct Shell Turbochargers before Caguioa fell on Ginebra’s lap in what became the biggest steal of that batch.

After failing to secure the third pick, Talk n Text (still under the banner of Mobiline) went on to choose Gilbert Demape as the fourth overall pick followed by Fil-am shooter John Arigo that went to Alaska.

“Nakita kasi ako ni coach Frankie nun sa isang laro sa California na umiskor ng 60 points kalaban mga Amerikano. Sinabihan niya akong magpalista sa PBA rookie draft at sila (TnT) ang kukuha sa akin,” Caguioa recalled.

Caguioa went on prove himself worthy of the tug-of-war and worked his way to be mentioned in the same breath as the Living Legend Sonny Jaworski.

“I was truly honored when the Big J fist bumped me during his jersey retirement ceremony last year,” Caguioa said. “We share the same passion and we badly wanted to win for the fans. We owe it to them.”

In retrospect, Caguioa could not have enjoyed the adulation of the fans and instead, could have become Brgy. Ginebra’s public enemy no. 1 had the trade pushed through in the 2001 PBA Rookie Draft.  

“Kung natuloy siguro ako sa Talk n Text nun, iba ang tinakbo ng career ko in the same way that Ginebra wouldn’t have been the same without me,” Caguioa said. 

But the 33-year old veteran, who paced the league in scoring with 22 points per game before falling down to injury list with an MCL, said that he is happy he ended up with Ginebra.   Had he become a Tropang Texter, Caguioa insisted that he would still be the Mr. Furious that he is now known for because of his past that motivated him to become the best.  

“Hindi kasi ako pinapansin ng mga scouts noon. Sina Jimmy (Alapag), Tony (dela Cruz) at Don (Allado) ang pinapansin noon sa [United] States.  There was this one time, may MBA (Metropolitan Basketball Association) scout na nagpunta doon at nagbasa lang ng dyaryo habang naglalaro ako. In that moment, I told myself na ‘ay grabe, pagpunta ko ng Manila, I’ll be the player who’ll bring in the biggest impact’,” Caguioa recalled.

It’s now a thing of the past for Caguioa but with Talk n Text standing on his team’s way to become the best, he is working double time to get back in shape and help Ginebra beat the franchise that he almost ended up playing for. 

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