Contributed by reader RC

I had a conversation with Mark Caguioa – remember him?

He’s the Barangay Ginebra Kings player from the Philippines, the “thug” as he was nicely labeled in Red Sports, who took a cheap shot at Kyle Jeffers during the dying minutes of the Slingers’ exhibition match against Ginebra prior to the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) last year.

I ran into Mark last December while I was on holiday in Manila. I just walked up and introduced myself, and we had a very animated discussion on this incident.

Here’s his side.

Apparently when he was hitting his outside jumpers early in the game, Kyle planted a sharp shoulder from behind. Not sure if it was from a pick and roll, but Mark even demonstrated it to me – showing me an action where he had to lower his shoulder to do it. I would imagine, coming from someone from a guy Kyle’s size, that would have had to hurt.

So he turned around and asked Kyle why he did that, and Kyle barked back with a swear word. So after a series of “F-U” exchanges, Mark ended it with a threat – “I’m gonna get you man” which he repeated many times through the course of the game.

And we all know what he did and we can watch the replay several times – it was indeed intentional.

I think Kyle failed to realize two things: a) that Mark is a seasoned and high paid pro, having played in all levels including FIBA basketball and b) he is a FilAm (Filipino-American) which means he’s honed his game in the US.

But really, to these guys, it’s nothing – all part of the game and intimidation tactics. So enough said.

To see the story with pictures of the incident, go to: http://redsports.sg/2009/10/01/slingers-ginebra-caguioa-jeffers-basketball/