‘Unsatisfied’ Caguioa wins Best Player of Conference award

Jamelle Cornley wins PBA 37th Season Governors Cup Best Import and Mark Caguioa as Best Player of the Conference. PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines – Turns out, the speculated nip-and-tuck battle for the Best Player of the Conference award wasn’t even close.

Barangay Ginebra star Mark Caguioa took home his second straight BPC plum while Gary David, who was deemed as the other top contender, went dead last.

Caguioa racked up a total of 1,121 points to clinch his third BPC award overall.

But for the charismatic 32-year-old guard, it’s still the championship, which has eluded him and his beloved franchise for four years, that matters most.

“I’m happy but I’m not satisfied,” said Caguioa. “We didn’t go to the Finals but you know, I just don’t want to be the only person that won the award. I want us to be in the Finals so everyone can have something to be happy about.”

“It’s not just me, I don’t really feel that great at all,” he added.

The Gin Kings came to within a defensive stop or a shot away from being in the Governors’ Cup Finals as the B-Meg Llamados edged them out, 74-72, in their knockout duel.

“I tried my best but we still fell short and it still hurts,” Caguioa admitted. “Like I said, (it could have been better if) we were losing by 10, 15 points because we know we’re losing but this one, we’re tied up they got the rebound and put it back and we lost by two points.”

Rain or Shine’s blue-chip rookie Paul Lee was a surprise second with 694 points followed by B-Meg’s Marc Pingris with 586 points teammate and two-time MVP James Yap with 537 points and David with 528.

Meanwhile, Lee’s teammate Jamelle Cornley won the Best Import award beating B-Meg counterpart Marcus Blakely.

Ginebra import Cedric Bozeman came in third followed by Meralco’s Mario West, Talk ‘N Text’s Paul Harris and Petron replacement Marcus Faison.

Cornley had a total of 1033 points while Blakely had 886.