CONE MISSES YOUNG CAGUIOA
CLARK — If he could only turn back time, Tim Cone should have coached Mark Caguioa in the early years of his career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
With Caguioa becoming the all-time leader in seasons played with one franchise, Cone marveled at his durability, saying that failing to mentor him in the early stage of his career is his biggest regret.
Caguioa played only six minutes against Meralco over the weekend, but it marked a special moment for as he formally became the first PBA player to play in 18 seasons, surpassing the 17 seasons of Alvin Patrimonio and Harvey Carey.
All in all, Caguioa is headed for a Hall of Fame career with 10,073 points, most of which were scored while bridging the era of the legendary Robert Jaworski into the new batch of stars like LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson.
“He is a special person and I didn’t know that before I came here. When I was on the other teams, I thought he was kind of arrogant,” said Cone, who had to settle for John Arigo with the fifth pick of the 2001 PBA Draft after Caguioa was taken by the Kings with the third pick.
“Now that I know him, I could only imagine how it was like to have him during the prime of his career, when he was putting up big numbers and winning championships.”
Cone said even if Caguioa is no longer the main option in offense, he still makes key contribution by mentoring his younger teammates.
“Only special guys like him do special things. That’s a testament of his character and playing ability,” he said.
And with Caguioa saying that he still has no plan to hang his jersey at 40 years old, Cone said he will still have a spot in his rotation.