Mark Caguioa

Mark Caguioa

No. 47 – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
Position	Shooting guard
League	PBA
Personal information
Born	(1979-11-19) November 19, 1979 San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school	Eagle Rock (Los Angeles, California)
College	Glendale CC (1997–1999)
PBA draft	2001 Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Barangay Ginebra Kings
Playing career	2001–present
Career history
2001–present	Barangay Ginebra Kings / Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
Career highlights and awards
4× PBA champion (2004 Fiesta, 2004–05 Philippine, 2006–07 Philippine, 2008 Fiesta) PBA MVP (2011–12) 3× Mythical First Team (2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12) 2× Mythical Second Team (2004–05, 2006–07) 3× Best Player of the Conference (2006–07 Philippine, 2012 Commissioner's, 2012 Governors') PBA Rookie of the Year (2001) Mr. Quality Minutes (2001) 2× PSA Professional Cager of the Year (2006–07, 2011–12) PBA POW Order of Merit Award (2011) 2× PBA Top scorer (2004–05, 2010–11) Most Minutes Played (2004–05) Most 2-Pointers Made (2010–11) PBA Press Corp Comeback Player of the Year (2011–12) Most Valuable Player (2011–12) 9× PBA All-Star 3× PBA scoring champion (2004–05, 2006–07, 2010–11) Member of 9,000 PBA Career Points Club PBA 40 Greatest Players

Mark Anthony Caguioa (born November 19, 1979 in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino basketball player who plays for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association. Known as The Spark and as MC47 from his initials and his jersey number, he is also half of "The Fast and The Furious", along with his backcourt partner, Jayjay Helterbrand.

Collegiate career

Caguioa was born and raised in the Philippines and spent his adolescent years in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California. He played collegiate basketball at Glendale Community College. He was named to the First Team All-Western State Conference after the 1999–2000 season.

Barangay Ginebra (2001–present)

In 2001, Caguioa was drafted by the Barangay Ginebra Kings as the third overall pick.^[1] Expectations were not high as Caguioa started as a role player and backup for superstar Vergel Meneses. However, after showing strong performances and helping to lead the Kings to the 2001 All-Filipino finals, he became very popular. With his crossovers, 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 moniker "The Spark." At the end of his first season, Caguioa was the third Ginebra player, after Dondon Ampalayo in 1986 and Marlou Aquino in 1996, to win the Rookie of the Year award. For the 2011–2012 season, he won the Most Valuable Player award.^[1]

"The Fast and The Furious"

In the 2004–2005 season, Caguioa, along with his backcourt partner Jayjay Helterbrand, formed a strong tandem, which ABC Sports dubbed the "The Fast and The Furious". Their play enabled Ginebra to win back-to-back championships. Caguioa also set his then career high for points in a single game during that 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.

In the 2006 Philippine Cup, Caguioa earned "Player of the Week" honors three times. He led the league in scoring at 24 points per game, and broke his previous career high for points in a single game, scoring 45 points in a losing effort against Red Bull in the quarterfinals. He became the first guard to finish a single season as the league's leading scorer since Allan Caidic in 1995.

In the 2007 Philippine Cup, Caguioa averaged 24.7 points 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 finals. During their series against Talk 'N Text in the semifinals, Caguioa scored 34, 31, 26, 35, and 31 points in the five games. Caguioa won the 2007 PBA Best Player of the Conference.^[1]

Caguioa again helped his team during the 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference, culminating in the team's eighth championship. He also led the league in scoring.

The Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia offered him a contract to play for their team. But unfortunately, the Australian 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 tendinitis on both knees.

MVP

Caguioa received the MVP award and back to back Best Player of the Conference awards in 2011 and 2012.^[1]

National team

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

However, Caguioa was eventually dropped from the team. National mentor Chot Reyes claimed that Caguioa had failed to appear for several practice sessions.

In 2007, he joined the national team that won the SEABA Championship with a perfect record and finished ninth place with a record of 5–2 in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship.

PBA career statistics

Correct as of July 12, 2015^[1]

Season-by-season averages

References