INQUIRER Sports

UNTIL I saw him on national television last Friday night, I did not realize how long Ginebra cager Mark Caguioa had been missing from the PBA scene.

By the end of the ongoing conference in July, the Filipino-American cager would have been out of commission for the entire 2008-2009 season under the term of chair Joaqui Trillo of the Alaska Aces.

The last we heard of him, before he flew over to watch and root for his team in the semifinals against Rain or Shine, Mark was in the United States recuperating from an injury.

?Tendinitis,? according to sources, which seems to be taking such a long time to heal.

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Just when the memory of him started slipping away from the consciousness of Ginebra fans, Mark made an unexpected appearance, prompting me to inquire about his status.

?Since he was put on the reserve list following his injury, Mark has become an unrestricted free agent. This means that even if he continues to receive regular salary from his mother team until his contract expires, he is free to negotiate with another team,? Mark?s agent Danny Espiritu explained.

According to Danny, the rules on injured and reserved players have changed. There is no longer a distinction between reserved and injured. Players who are not in the active list automatically become unrestricted free agents like Caguioa, Danny said.

He advised me to check this rule out with the PBA commissioner?s office

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It?s not clear if Ginebra will take back Caguioa, undoubtedly a very talented player?albeit one with an attitude.

Caguioa is very professional in the sense that he wants to be paid for every bit of service that he renders.

His demands may not have been granted, and this could be the reason for his lingering injury and long vacation.

Could his presence in Manila be a sign of surrender?

When interviewed on radio, Mark, who now sports a Mohawk hairstyle, said he will play for no other team but Ginebra.

Apparently, Mark has closed his doors to all the other teams.

I forgot to ask Danny if he was getting any offers.

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PBA head statistician Fidel Mangonon agrees with me.

It?s going to be a wide open race for the PBA?s 2008-2009 Most Valuable Player.

?No one is way ahead of the others. As of now we only have two candidates: Alaska?s Willie Miller, who automatically qualified by clinching the Best Player of the All-Filipino conference title and finals MVP MacMac Cardona, who comes from champion team Talk ?N Text.

The other contenders will come from the six teams currently competing in the ongoing semifinal round.

The players of the teams that end up in the championship round will of course have the best chance for both the Best Player of the Motolite Fiesta Conference title and the season?s MVP award.

As of now, in the running for BPC are Burger King?s Arwind Santos with 32.6 average statistical points, San Miguel Beer?s Dondon Hontiveros with 28.7, Ginebra?s JayJay Helterbrand with 28.0 and Rain or Shine?s Gabe Norwood with 26.9.

Coke?s Asi Taulava and Talk ?N Text?s Jimmy Alapag are in second and fifth place, respectively, but I?ve dropped their names along with the others whose teams are now out of the running.

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The Fiba-Asia Men?s Championship is going to be one long tournament with a total of more than 60 games to be played by virtue of the new format adopted.

My friend Rhea Navarro, who sent me the new format with every minute detail from the office of Sheikh Saud Althani, the president of Fiba-Asia, said we will only be playing the teams in our group once. We will not be meeting any of them again in succeeding rounds.

Familiar with the strengths of the teams in the tournament, I have requested Rhea to prepare a blow-by-blow projection on how our team will perform in the World Championship qualifier.