'This is not the Ginebra I know' says Mark Caguioa
“This is not the Ginebra I know.”
The brutally painful words were a part of Mark Caguioa’s tweets regarding their ongoing campaign in the 2014 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. He started his statement saying that he was okay and that he was worried about Ginebra’s legions of fans but his latter tweets showed that all is not well inside the Kings' camp.
Hey guys just wanna let u know im ok. Mas concern ako sa inyo mga fans. This is nt the Ginebra that i know. Miske ako hindi ako sanay...
— Mark Caguioa (@officialMC47) March 28, 2014
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings finished the 2014 Philippine Cup eliminations at the top. They bowed out against eventual champions San Mig Super Coffee in the semifinals but the Ginebra faithful were sure that the days of falling short, of not winning championships are already numbered.
Their lofty expectations fell apart when they watched the Kings struggle to put away the Barako Bull Energy in their first game. They suffered back to back defeats to their sister teams San Mig Super Coffee and San Miguel Beer. The Kings scored an uncomfortable win against the still winless GlobalPort Batang Pier but they lost to Talk ‘N Text and Air21.
Before the start of the conference, the Kings gave assistant coach Juno Sauler a more active role in the bench. Ato Agustin was still their head coach but Sauler did all of the head coaching duties during games. This coaching gambit has been blamed for Ginebra’s recent struggles but most of the blame was thrown on their import Leon Rodgers.
The Ginebra import is averaging 30.33 points and 10.17 rebounds per contest. He was benched in the fourth quarter of their game against Air21 but he was asked to take the potentially game-trying shot with less than five seconds left in the game even if he was ice cold off the bench.
If this team play the way we practice we would be unstoppable. Kaso pag meron ng camera wala na parang pa pogian lang. Walang gigil at galit
— Mark Caguioa (@officialMC47) March 28, 2014
Caguioa continued to vent out his frustrations on Twitter as he claimed that some of his teammates play differently when the cameras are one. He also rued that they are being outfought by other teams.
Sa laro.Gusto ko rin makita na sana yung nakikipag laban sa bangaan hindi yung lagi kami tinitulak or binabanga #LETSWAKEUPGINEBRA
— Mark Caguioa (@officialMC47) March 28, 2014
Ginebra is currently looking for a replacement for Rodgers to save their Commissioner’s Cup campaign. As of the moment, they are tied with Barako Bull for the eighth and ninth spots with 2-4 win-loss records.
For the past few games, some Ginebra fans have expressed their frustrations on social media. Their usual line was that they could not see Ginebra's old never-say-die attitude with the squad. Caguioa's statements on Twitter could be his way of trying to inspire his team to play better.
Basketball is nt jst abt scoring its abt the effort u put in the game.If people see the effort u put in then people will start respecting u.
— Mark Caguioa (@officialMC47) March 28, 2014