MANILA – James Yap of Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, Mark Caguioa of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, and Paul Asi Taulava of NLEX Road Warriors are all sidelined when the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup opens today at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The 17-year PBA veteran Yap has no timetable of return for the Painters since he still recovers from a minor surgery on his knee.
“I’ve spoken to him that we are rushing him. We want him to be 100 percent before he can go to full contact in practice,” according to Painters head coach Chris Gavina.
Gavina added that the 39-year-old Yap has yet to participate in the team’s full-contact practices, although he took part in the 5-on-0 program drills.
Caguioa, meanwhile, was relegated by defending champions Kings to the injured/reserve list to start the All-Filipino conference since he is currently in the United States (US) due to personal matters.
“Mark is still in the US attending to family matters. We expect him to return soon. He has management’s full permission to be away,” Kings’ head coach Tim Cone said on the 20-year PBA veteran.
A one-time PBA Most Valuable Player awardee, Caguioa has played sparingly over the past two seasons for the Kings, appearing only in 23 games in the 2019 and three games in last year’s Philippine Cup.
Taulava, the oldest active player in the league at 48 years old, is still part of the Road Warriors lineup but was also relegated to the injured/reserve list to start his 22nd PBA season.
The 17-time PBA All-Star, one-time PBA MVP, one-time PBA Finals MVP, and one-time PBA champion, has participated in only three games during the 2020 PBA Cup./PN
