Caguioa praises Baracael's big heart

MANILA, Philippines – Mark Caguioa made a strong comeback from a poor performance to set up the stage for Mac Baracael’s heroics in the endgame.

Caguioa, who was held down to a conference-low six points all on free throws after a woeful 0-of-11 stint from the field by San Mig Coffee last Sunday, exploded for a personal conference-high 32 points.

“Hindi naman sa pagbabawi. I’ve been in the backseat watching the game as it happen, letting the game flow. This game, nagpapasalamat ako kay LA, he kept looking for me. Hindi siya nawalan ng tiwala sa akin. In return, I was making my layups,” Caguioa told Philstar.com after the game. “In the last game, he was looking for me and I couldn’t make shots for him.”

It was a complete opposite of last Sunday’s 89-86 loss at the hands of the Mixers.

Caguioa came off the bench to score 22 points in the opening half on Saturday night against the Elasto Painters. 

“In today’s (last night's) game, I think with Dior (Lowhorn) moving the ball in the first half, they got me open too. LA and Dior did a great job involving me in the offense,” the reigning MVP added.

But Caguioa deflected the praise to Baracael, who preserved his best offensive game in the conference with three clutch free throws in the final three tenths of a second to eke out the one-point win, 101-100.  

“Today’s (last night's) game is [all about] Mac Baracael. I really thought ‘di na kami mananalo and then you know what, all those calls na ‘di nila tinawag, they made it up with that call [on Baracael],” said Caguioa, who was visibly frustrated by non-calls on most of his attempts in the final half as Rain or Shine’s defense limited him to just 10 points in the final half.

“Mahirap nang magreklamo ngayon sa mga referees baka ma-fine na naman ako. I guess kung hindi talaga tatawagan, di talaga tatawagan,” said Caguioa, who was fined Php 20,000 for lashing out at the referees after a tough loss to the Alaska Aces earlier.

Read related story: Caguioa calls refs blind, cries foul over non-calls

“Ganun talaga minsan eh. Parang there are times na ‘di nila tatawagin, meron din yung time na tatawagin nila. So para sa akin ngayon, sila (referees) na ang bahala. Kung matalo, matalo. Kung manalo, manalo,” Caguioa added.

And Caguioa was relieved to be finally on the right end of the call.

Read related story: Guiao: 'The refs decided the game'

“That’s what happened in today’s game. ‘Yung three-point [attempt] ni Mac Baracael tinawagan nila, so wala naman akong i-aangal pa eh. Meron talagang game na di ka tatawagan, meron ding mga game na tatawagan ka,” Caguioa said.  

The Kings’ team captain was happy to see Baracael showing that never-say-die heart.

“That’s tough. Zero point three second, we’re down by two points and he made up all those three [free throws]. Hindi pina-praktis yun eh,” Caguioa said.

“Galing sa puso yun.”

“You gotta have the heart that when stepping on that line, you’re confident to make those free throws. Hindi siya natakot.” Caguioa added.

Read related story: Clutch Mac redeems self from tragic past

The Kings need to win their remaining games against GlobalPort and Talk n Text to have a greater chance of advancing to the next round.

“Every game is now important. Kailangan naming manalo in our last two games but we have to take it one game a time. Hopefully, our offense will be consistent,” Caguioa said.