MARK CAGUIOA

Glendale Comm. Coll., California

Brgy. Ginebra Kings

Mark Anthony Caguioa (born on November 19, 1979 in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He plays for the Barangay Ginebra Kings, although he is currently on leave from the team due to his playing commitments to the Philippine national team. 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.

PBA career

In 2001, as a virtual unknown in Philippine basketball scene, he was drafted by the Barangay Ginebra Kings as the 3rd overall pick. Expectations were not high as Caguioa started as role player and reliever to Vergel Meneses. However, after showing strong performances and leading the Kings to the 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 Filipino basketball fans. His exciting brand of play earned him the monicker "The Spark". At the end of the season, Caguioa is the 3rd 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 the comebacking Jayjay Helterbrand, formed a strong backcourt tandem, which ABC Sports later dubbed as the "Fast and the Furious". Their tandem enabled Ginebra to win back-to-back championships. Caguioa also set his career high during this season, scoring 43 points in Game 4 of the Philippine Cup Finals against the Talk N Text Phone Pals.

Caguioa had 4 chances to become MVP:

* He was among the leading players for 2004 Fiesta Conference and Philippine Cup best player, but lost in the media voting twice to fellow Ginebra teammate Eric Menk. His "bad boy" image was apparently disliked by the media.

* His output of 36 points in the 2004 All-Star Game would have won him the All-Star MVP, but the South All-Stars led by Asi Taulava and Jimmy Alapag stole the show.

* Caguioa was also the statistical leader for season MVP in 2005 [1], but lost again to Eric Menk in the media voting.

In the 2006 Philippine Cup, Caguioa is still showing brilliance in his game earning Player of the Week honors thrice, becoming the league's leading scorer at 24 points a game, breaking his previous career high by scoring 45 pts despite losing to Red Bull in quarterfinals. He became the first guard ever to finished a single season as the league's leading scorer in the 21st Century (since Allan Caidic in 1995).

Currently, in the 2007 Philippine Cup, Caguioa is averaging 24.7 PPG in the 23 games he is currently playing in the said tournament. He also lead the league in Statistical Points for the Best Player of the Conference Awards. Ginebra is currently leading the series 3-2 in the best-of-seven semifinal series with the Talk N Text Phone Pals. During the series, Caguioa scored 34,31,26,35 and 31 pts. respectively with a 31.4 point clip. Mark Caguioa won the 2007 PBA Best Player of the Conference.

He was healing with a shoulder injury after the FIBA-Asia Championship held at Tokushima where the team SMC-Pilipinas ranked 9th overall.

Awards and Records

* 2001 Rookie of the Year
* 2001 Mr. Quality Minutes
* 2004 Mythical Second Team Member
* 2005 Mythical Second Team Member
* 2005 Statistical leader
* 2007 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 Member, PBA 5,000-point clubMAwards and Records

* 2001 Rookie of the Year
* 2001 Mr. Quality Minutes
* 2004 Mythical Second Team Member
* 2005 Mythical Second Team Member
* 2005 Statistical leader
* 2007 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 Member, PBA 5,000-point club

fans of BRGY. GINEBRA KINGS.