Caguioa finally sees the 'green light' to play

MANILA, Philippines – With the Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel Kings just waiting for the final buzzer to signal their march to the Finals, one man stood up from the bench and went to the scorer’s table.

The majority of the 21,480 crowd in attendance acknowledged the man in white jersey sporting number 47. It was their M-V-P, the heart and soul of this Ginebra franchise in this generation.

The chants grew stronger as Ginebra superstar Mark Caguioa finally came in to play for the Kings for the first time since mid-March.

“We owe it to the fans. Kung nasaan man kami, it’s because of the fans. By putting in Mark [Caguioa], siguro half of the nation, sobrang saya [siguro] nila na nakita si Mark, naka-shoot pa,” Ginebra coach Alfrancis Chua later said in the post-game press conference.

With the MCL injury already past behind him, Caguioa went to the line for two free throws after drawing Ali Peek’s sixth and final foul in the closing seconds of the game. 

The crowd started to chant, “M-V-P! M-V-P!”

Caguioa did not disappoint as he sank both free throws for his only stats of the night. It did not matter for the league’s scoring leader in the eliminations as his Kings finally completed their march to the Finals after a horrible 0-4 start.

“He’s very professional. Mark told me, coach I wanna play so bad. But I don’t want to ruin the rhythm of the team,” Chua added.  "He's our no. 1 cheerleader at naging assistant coach ko na rin."

Caguioa clutched the ball in his hands in the final moments of that 111-103 series clincher to tell to his team, “This is for you guys!”

“It felt so great to finally be out there," Caguioa   later told Philstar.com inside their locker room moments after the victory. "I’m ready for the Finals. But I won’t be coming there to score 20 or more. Maganda na ang itinatakbo ng team. I don’t want to be that guy na sisira dun.” 

Chua hinted that we will see more of Caguioa.

“I think kung matagal-tagal pa ‘to, I’ll let him play,” Chua said.