Mark Caguioa

[fowtyeben]

source: philippine daily inquirer

Nobody noticed, least of all the Fil-Am cager who was the subject of a scouting expedition to Manila recently.

The NBA scout, described as the number two man of the Toronto Raptors by player agent Bobby Rius who is now based in Las Vegas, quietly flew in from the United States some months ago to personally look over the cager who he had heard so much about.

"He wanted to see for himself if the cager is NBA material. His longtime dream is to discover the first Filipino NBA player," said Bobby who has been bringing imports to the Philippines for over 30 years now.

The NBA scout Bobby was talking about is no other than American Jim Kelly, who had a stint in the Philippines working as trainer for Great Taste. Later he was hired by RFM's Joey Concepcion to personally train and develop the 6-foot-9 Bonel Balingit.

Jim came home with a scouting report, his dream of discovering the first Filipino cager remaining unfulfilled.

Not that the Fil-Am cager didn't measure up to his expectations. In Jim's book, he was as good as bruited about, definitely NBA material.

That guy is Ginebra's the "Spark" Mark Caguioa didn't measure up to was the NBA ceiling.

"He was a bit too short, according to Jim," Bobby said. "If only he had been at least 6-3..."

Mark stands 6 feet flat. "It's not yet final regarding his case" he said.

show that "nba material" in international games mark!

[onono1]

source: philippine daily inquirer

Nobody noticed, least of all the Fil-Am cager who was the subject of a scouting expedition to Manila recently.

The NBA scout, described as the number two man of the Toronto Raptors by player agent Bobby Rius who is now based in Las Vegas, quietly flew in from the United States some months ago to personally look over the cager who he had heard so much about.

"He wanted to see for himself if the cager is NBA material. His longtime dream is to discover the first Filipino NBA player," said Bobby who has been bringing imports to the Philippines for over 30 years now.

The NBA scout Bobby was talking about is no other than American Jim Kelly, who had a stint in the Philippines working as trainer for Great Taste. Later he was hired by RFM's Joey Concepcion to personally train and develop the 6-foot-9 Bonel Balingit.

Jim came home with a scouting report, his dream of discovering the first Filipino cager remaining unfulfilled.

Not that the Fil-Am cager didn't measure up to his expectations. In Jim's book, he was as good as bruited about, definitely NBA material.

That guy is Ginebra's the "Spark" Mark Caguioa didn't measure up to was the NBA ceiling.

"He was a bit too short, according to Jim," Bobby said. "If only he had been at least 6-3..."

Mark stands 6 feet flat. "It's not yet final regarding his case" he said.

show that "nba material" in international games mark!

Oh, height factor really hurts. I remember some years back, NBA scouts spotted a highly-skilled player from south korea whose name was Hur Jae. His case was different. He measured up to nba scouts' expectations. Hur Jae was very talented, quick, outstanding outside shooting and ball handling skills and tall for asian pt. guard standard at 6'2". He even outplayed and outmatched our premiere point guard Johnny Abarrientos during the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games quarterfinals. In other words, hur jae got what he takes to make it in the NBA except his language, i guess. That's why he failed to make it.

[donspark47]

MARK "spark" "furious" CAGUIOA thread

Mark Caguioa will make his return in the coming PBA season after missing the entire season due to tendonitis.

The five-foot-11 Barangay Ginebra guard reported for practice two weeks ago and appeared in top form, retaining the quickness and shooting touch that made him one of the league’s premier players.

“So far so good,” Ginebra coach Jong Uichico said of Caguioa. “He is ready to go, unless his knee acts up.”

Caguioa, 29, sat out last season and spent six months in the United States to rehabilitate his knee.
Caguioa Back In Top Form – Uichico


He was supposed to rejoin the team during the late stage of the Fiesta Cup, but team management decided against fielding him back into action.

With Caguioa’s return, Ginebra is now loaded at the two-guard spot as he will share playing minutes with 2009 Most Valuable Player (MVP) and buddy Jayjay Helterbrand, Cyrus Baguio, and Ronald Tubid. Uichico doesn’t see it as a problem.

The Kings also upgraded their frontline with the recent additions of 6-foot-6 Enrico Villanueva, 6-foot-5 Rich Alvarez and 6-foot-6 Paulo Bugia, joining mainstays Willie Wilson, Billy Mamaril, and former MVP Eric Menk.

“Last season, we really lacked the size. We actually have the size but not quick players compared to the other teams. That’s one of our weak spots,” Uichico said.

The multi-titled mentor said that their new recruits are doing well in practice, trying to fit into the system and finding their right roles to be effective in their campaign to regain the all-Filipino crown they last won in 2006-07 Season.

Despite the addition of new players, Uichico still feels they are not in the same calibre as powerhouse teams like reigning Fiesta Cup champion San Miguel Beer and defending Philippine Cup champion Talk ’N Text.

"We’re just one of the regulars," Uichico said. “We may have improved particularly on our frontline rotation, malayo kami sa teams like San Miguel Beer and Talk ’N Text. Kumbaga humahabol lang kami sa kanila," he added.

[donspark47]

wikipedia

Mark Anthony Y. Caguioa (born November 19, 1979 in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He plays for the Barangay Ginebra Kings. Known by many as The Spark, he is also known, along with backcourt tandem Jayjay Helterbrand, as one-half of the so-called, The Fast and The Furious. He is one of the best players in league history that can easily score at will.
Contents

Although born and raised in the Philippines, Caguioa spent his adolescent days in the United States and played collegiate ball at the Glendale Community College in California. He was named into the First Team All-Western State Conference honors in the 1999-2000 season.

PBA career

In 2001, as a virtual unknown in the Philippine basketball scene, he was drafted by the Barangay Ginebra Kings as the third overall pick. Expectations were not high as Caguioa started as a role player and reliever to superstar but aging Vergel Meneses. However, after showing strong performances and leading the Kings to the 2001 All-Filipino finals, he became very popular. With his killer cross-overs, slashing drives to the basket, and penchant for making clutch plays, Caguioa earned the respect and admiration of the Filipino basketball fans. His exciting brand of play earned him the monicker "The Spark." At the end of the season, Caguioa was the third Ginebra player since Dondon Ampalayo in 1986 and Marlou Aquino in 1996 to win the Rookie of the Year award.

In the 2002 and 2003 seasons, Caguioa had good performances but the Kings were unable to get past the quarterfinals.

In the 2004-2005 season, Caguioa along with his comebacking partner Jayjay Helterbrand, formed a strong backcourt tandem, which ABC Sports later dubbed as the "The Fast and The Furious." Their tandem enabled Ginebra to win back-to-back championships. Caguioa also set his then career high during the season, scoring 43 points (he later eclipsed this by scoring 45 points) in Game 4 of the Philippine Cup Finals against the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals.

Caguioa had several chances to win the MVP plum but got the short end most of the time. Like for example, he was among the leading players in the 2004 Fiesta Conference and was also a strong candidate for the the Philippine Cup Best Player, but lost in the media voting twice to fellow Barangay Ginebra Kings teammate Eric Menk. His "bad boy" image was apparently disliked by the media. During the 2004 PBA All-Star Game, his output of 36 points would have won him the All-Star MVP, but the PBA South All-Stars led by Asi Taulava and Jimmy Alapag stole the show.

In the 2006 Philippine Cup, Caguioa was still showing brilliance in his game earning him the Player of the Week honors thrice. He also led the league scoring at 24 points per game, and broke his previous career high by scoring 45 points despite a losing effort to Red Bull in the quarterfinals. He became the first guard ever to finished a single season as the league's leading scorer since Allan Caidic in 1995.

In the 2007 Philippine Cup, Caguioa averaged 24.7 per game in the 23 games he played. He also led the league in statistical points for the Best Player of the Conference Award. Caguioa piloted Ginebra to their seventh championship in franchise history by besting the San Miguel Beermen in a best-of-seven showdown by ending it in Game 6. During their series against Talk 'N Text in the semifinals, Caguioa scored 34, 31, 26, 35, and 31 points respectively. Mark Caguioa won the 2007 PBA Best Player of the Conference.

Caguioa again helped his team during the 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference by grabbing their eight championship. He also led the league in scoring.

There were also speculations that the Sydney Kings of the NBL in Australia was really impressed with his performance, and they offered him a contract to play for their team. But unfortunately, the NBL terminated the license of the Sydney Kings after the club’s ownership failed to remedy outstanding player payments outlined in a default notice issued to the club.

In the 2008-09 season, Caguioa failed to suit up for Kings due to his therapy in the United States for tendonitis on both knees.

Awards and Records

* 1999 Eagle Rock Most Valuable Player of the Year
* 2000 Glendale Community College Mythical First Team
* 2001 PBA Rookie of the Year
* 2001 PBA Mr. Quality Minutes
* 2005 PBA Mythical Second Team
* 2005 PBA Statistical Leader
* 2006 PBA Mythical Second Team
* 2006 PBA Scoring Champion
* 2007 PBA Best Player of the Conference (All Filipino Cup)
* 2007 Philippine National Team Member
* 2007 PSA Major Awardee (Professional Basketball Ranks)
* 2007 FIBA Asia Club Championship Mythical Ten Selection
* 2007 William Jones Cup Mythical Five Selection
* 2007 Member, PBA 5,000-point Club
* 3x PBA Scoring Champion
* 2008 Achieved 30th career 30-plus point game
* 2008 Statistical Leader in PBA Fiesta Cup's Best Player of the

Conference
* 2008 PBA Mythical First Team
* 2004 Fiesta Conference
* 2004-2005 Philippine Cup
* 2006-2007 Philippine Cup
* 2008 Fiesta Conference champion.

National team

Caguioa was named in the RP Training Pool for future international competitions. He has participated in several exhibition games against the Iranian National Team and the NBL team Sydney Kings in mid-2005, where he impressed the latter team's coach by scoring 27 points in the said game. [1] [2] He has also played in the 2005 FIBA-Asia Champions Cup held in the Philippines, in which they finished 5th in the event. He averaged 19.8 points per game and 3.4 rebound per game in the said tournament.

However, Caguioa was eventually left out of the team. It was due to national mentor Chot Reyes' claim that Caguioa has failed to appear in several practice sessions.

In 2007, he finally joined the RP Team that won the Southeast Asia Basketball Association Championship with a perfect record and finished 9th place with a record of 5-2 in the FIBA Asia Championship.
[edit] Controversy

* A mini-controversy happened in 2005 when he spoke a Filipino vulgar word during a live interview of a game between Caguioa's team against the Sta. Lucia Realtors. He didn't receive any form of punishment from the PBA for his comments.

* Caguioa once had a rivalry with then-Sta. Lucia player Alex Cabagnot, who now plays for the Coca-Cola Tigers. It was mainly because Cabagnot broke Caguioa's scoring records at Eagle Rock High School. They had several episodes of commentaries regarding each other in interviews, and were seen trash talking in camera during their first two encounters. The rivalry apparently cooled off as Cabagnot failed to live up to everyone's expectations. [3]

* Aside from being left out of the national team, Caguioa was also sanctioned by the league for his failure to appear in the 2006 PBA All-Star Game held in Cagayan de Oro City. Through his agent Danny Espiritu, he said he was suffering from an injury and had to beg off from coming.

* Prior to the start of the 2006 Philippine Cup, Caguioa vowed to run naked (or half-naked) along the streets of Shaw Boulevard if the Kings failed to defend the title during a pre-tournament interview with ABC Sports. His team eventually lost the title, but he reneged on his earlier promise.

* On May 17, 2006, Caguioa was ejected during Ginebra's 99-88 defeat against the Coca-Cola Tigers for two technical fouls. The first technical happened after he vehemently complained a call against then-Tigers guard John Arigo. The second offense was for throwing the ball into the stands after a foul was called on him. The league also suspended Caguioa during their loss against Air21 on May 20.

* He was fined by former PBA Commissioner Noli Eala for failing to attend the 2006 PBA Annual Awards, where he was included in the Mythical Second team.

* Several major newspapers in the Philippines wrote articles claiming that Caguioa is hated by the media in relation to his non-inclusion of individual awards in the past.

[chris25_moon]

I like this thread, Idol Welcome back!

[donspark47]

I like this thread, Idol Welcome back!

thanks dude!

[donspark47]

Interview

May rumor sa Ginebra management na ittrade daw si Mark C. mula mismo sa manager niya..But according to Spark's interview di totoo ang trade between Mark to Ren2 and Mark to Belasco..Saka if ever itrade siya sa ibang team di na lang siya magla2ro at magre2tire na lang kc ka2iba daw tayo magmahal and he could not imagine his self wearing other jersey...Porke ba may injury siya,nagkaroon ng issue ng trade?..

other questions to Mark Caguioa:

Q. Nagkatampuhan o nagkagalit na ba kayo ni Jayjay?
A. Never pa kami nagkagalit ni JayJay kasi magkapatid ang turingan namin.

Q. If ever JayJay is a girl liligawan mo ba siya?
A. (he laughs,hehehe) Ahmmm...No, mas ok siguro kung bestfrend na lang..Grabe pati ba si JayJay...hahahaha

Q. Wala ka bang balak maglaro sa NBA?
A. May nagscout sakin maglaro sa NBA but I refused it dahil mahal ko ang Ginebra fans at i'm happy nasa Ginebra ako. Kung magtraining pwede pa to improve my skill.

Q. Mas kamukha mo si Jomari Yllana?
A. Ha..cno yun? hehehe.. di ba matangos ang ilong nun..siguro si Allan K lang kamukha ko... pati... si Pido...

Q. Sino ang pinakagwapong Mark sa PBA Mark Macapagal,Mark Isip, Pingris, Andaya,Escalona,etc.?
A. Siyempre ako! hahahaha...

Q. Sinong magaling magbantay sayo? James Yap, Miller, Cardona, Yeo, Ren2,Cortez?
A. Aahh.. Si Ronald Tubid kc magaling talaga siya mang-asar pero sanay na ako.. Naaawa me sa mga binabantayan niya,talagang mapipikon sila. Buti naging mabait na si Tubid sakin...hehehe

Q. Si Mercado daw ang next Mark Caguioa,anong masasabi mo?
A. Napanood ko na siya maglaro,ehmmmm,,you know masasabi may hawig kami sa paglalalro at style kaso nasa Ginebra ako at siya sa PBL..(sinabi din na Danny Spiritu baka idol ni Mercado si Mark kaya hawig sila sa paglalaro.) Oo nga...(he's agree)hehehe

Q. May plan ka na ba magpakasal?
A. ahmmmm...Wala pa sa isip yan,matagal pa bago ako ikasal baka wala na akong fans that time...hahaha

Q. Kung papipiliin ka kung sino ang gusto mo makasama sa RP team sino ang kukunin mo?
A. All Ginebra players.

Q.If kukunin ka ni Jawo sa kanyang team para maglaro, papayag ka ba?
A. It's hard decision you know gaya ng sinabi ko iba pag nsa Ginebra ka..

Q. Ikaw dw ang susunod sa yapak ni Jaworski?
A. Ohhh..di naman kasi si Jawo the living legend siya at madami na siyang achievements... i'll continue what he started..the never say die attitude.. I remember nung 1st time ko maglaro sa PBA ang daming fans kaya dapat iba lahat para sulit ang bayad nila and parang forgot ko na maglaro ng basketball sa dami nila...hehehe.. iba tlga ang feeling.

[CoJ]

not exactly a fan of him (actually I hate this guy) , one of those players who's on the same mold as Allen Iverson (Me first, over dribbles, relies on flashiness than skill, vilume shooter notorious for going 1/20 in a game etx...) luckily these kind of players are slowly being phased out or already and endangered species not only in the PBA but elsewhere (NBA, Euro etc)...........

[donspark47]

not exactly a fan of him (actually I hate this guy) , one of those players who's on the same mold as Allen Iverson (Me first, over dribbles, relies on flashiness than skill, vilume shooter notorious for going 1/20 in a game etx...) luckily these kind of players are slowly being phased out or already and endangered species not only in the PBA but elsewhere (NBA, Euro etc)...........

MARK CAGUIOA
Awards and Records

* 1999 Eagle Rock Most Valuable Player of the Year
* 2000 Glendale Community College Mythical First Team
* 2001 PBA Rookie of the Year
* 2001 PBA Mr. Quality Minutes
* 2005 PBA Mythical Second Team
* 2005 PBA Statistical Leader
* 2006 PBA Mythical Second Team
* 2006 PBA Scoring Champion
* 2007 PBA Best Player of the Conference (All Filipino Cup)
* 2007 Philippine National Team Member
* 2007 PSA Major Awardee (Professional Basketball Ranks)
* 2007 FIBA Asia Club Championship Mythical Ten Selection
* 2007 William Jones Cup Mythical Five Selection
* 2007 Member, PBA 5,000-point Club
* 3x PBA Scoring Champion
* 2008 Achieved 30th career 30-plus point game
* 2008 Statistical Leader in PBA Fiesta Cup's Best Player of the

Conference
* 2008 PBA Mythical First Team
* 2004 Fiesta Conference
* 2004-2005 Philippine Cup
* 2006-2007 Philippine Cup
* 2008 Fiesta Conference champion.

[TrueBluePinoy]

not exactly a fan of him (actually I hate this guy) , one of those players who's on the same mold as Allen Iverson (Me first, over dribbles, relies on flashiness than skill, vilume shooter notorious for going 1/20 in a game etx...) luckily these kind of players are slowly being phased out or already and endangered species not only in the PBA but elsewhere (NBA, Euro etc)...........

In other words, strictly for entertainment.

His style of play is a bad influence for national team aspirants.

[randomguy]

In other words, strictly for entertainment.

His style of play is a bad influence for national team aspirants.

Dude's past his prime.

[ricodgame]

Dude's past his prime.

But if he is only 29 then he is on his peak.. Like KObe - He is 31 I think, so he is still in his prime..

[Lebron23]

Caguioa was one of our top scorers in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship. He was also a member of the Jones Cup Mythical 5, and the Spark was also selected as a member of the 2007 FIBA Asia Club Championship Mythical Ten Selection.

He's the real MVP in the 2007 PBA Season cause he was the no.1 reason Ginebra won the All Filipino Cup title.

Miller won the MVP Award because Mark Caguioa played for the National Team in the Fiesta Conference.

Stop hating on Mark Caguioa because he's one of the most exciting players in PBA History.

[Lebron23]

Unlike Allen Iverson the Spark has won 4 PBA Championships since 2001.

[eindhow]

Mark Caguioa is the best scorer of the Philippines in his generation.. He proved that during his NT stint in 2007.. An NBA-type/patterned player.. But somewhat succeeded Internationally.. Too bad he's barely 6ft and almost 30 that time.. We could have seen a Fil in the NBA already.. hihi..;p

Haters will disagree with me.. Then tell me who can match what he does in the PBA??