The ‘Coffee Prince’ works in silence

MANILA, Philippines – There has been no shortage of struggles for the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers coming into the PLDT myDSL Philippine Cup as the champion squad dropped three straight games. Even their first win over Air21 Express came in double overtime.

Throughout the Mixers’ struggles, everyone kept asking why James Yap or Marc Pingris could not save their team. Many wondered whether Ian Sangalang was deserving of the draft’s second overall pick.

Most people questioned San Mig Coffee’s temperament. Have they grown too confident after being champions? Or have injuries to key players such as Joe Devance, James Yap and PJ Simon weighed them down?

But in these burning questions surrounding a champion team now sitting a notch above last place at 1-3, nobody paid attention to San Mig Coffee’s lone bright spot.

He stands at 5’10”. He’s not as imposing as Asi Taulava, nor as strong as Beau Belga. But the Coffee Prince Mark Barroca has been a force for the Mixers for every game in this conference so far.

Silently productive

For all but one of San Mig Coffee’s 4 games this conference, Barroca was the team’s top scorer despite not having backup. 

“Kulang yung balance sa scoring namin sa wing (We lacked balanced scoring on the wing),” Barroca admitted after they went 0-3 against the Petron Blaze Boosters.

Against Petron, he went across the stat sheet and led the Mixers with 20 markers, 5 rebounds, two assists, 5 steals and two blocks.

Pingris, JR Cawaling and Sangalang chipped in double-digit numbers but it wasn’t enough to overturn Petron’s 13-point lead in the end.

In their first game of the conference, San Mig Coffee faced Barangay Ginebra in a Manila Clasico showdown. It proved to be a bad omen for the Mixers’ immediate future as they absorbed an 86-69 loss.

Barroca led the Mixers with 14 points, 5 rebounds, two dimes and one theft. The only other Mixer in double digits was Val Acuña with 11 markers.

Against the Alaska Aces, San Mig trailed by double digits for most of the game. Despite Yap’s 19 points and Sangalang’s 15 points, they still lost, 84-80.

It was the only game so far that Barroca did not lead in scoring. But even then he still had 13 points, two assists and two steals.

“Lumalabas na lang yung scoring ko kasi naiisip ko kailangan namin talaga ng leader dito eh,” Barroca quickly downplayed his contributions. “Maraming injured.” (My scoring just comes out naturally because I’m thinking we need a leader. Many are injured.) 

When San Mig finally won against Air21, Barroca still led all Mixers with 19 points along with 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and one block.

This time, he had plenty of help as 5 more Mixers produced double-digit outputs.

“Yung score ko naman opportunity lang naman. [I don’t] look to score,” Barroca said. “Syempre kung may mga open na kasama ako binibigay ko talaga. Maganda nga yung scoring namin ngayon, balanced scoring.” (My scoring is just an opportunity. I don’t look to score. If my teammate is open, I’ll give it to him. We had good balanced scoring.)

In all the games San Mig Coffee had lost, it was obvious Barroca was forced to provide offensive firepower.

His duties as point guard became secondary as Barroca slashed, cut and zigzagged his way to the hoop for daredevil layups or sank midrange jumpers and triples. In San Mig’s three losses, Barroca only dished out two assists.

But in their winning outing, he balanced his duties as playmaker with 8 assists and still led in scoring. (READ: The end of a champion’s losing streak)

So far, Barroca is leading the team in points per game with 16.5 as well as in steals with 2.75 per game.

“Kailangan ko rin umiskor sa ngayon kasi wala pa sila [other teammates]. Siguro yung mga attempts nila napupunta sa akin,” said the former FEU stalwart. “Wala naman sa isip ko yung iiskor ako kasi pangit na pag naghahanap lang ako ng score, naiiba yung game eh.” (I just needed to score because the others aren’t there yet. Maybe their attempts just became my attempts. I don’t think about scoring because it’s not good to do just that, the game changes.)

Stepping up his game

According to the Coffee Prince, increasing his energy by a mile and asserting himself more are all by design.

“Gusto ko rin mapunta sa mga magagaling na guards. Pag nakita mo yung magagaling na guards, sobrang [balanced] sila sa score and assists. Gusto ko maging gaanoon eh.” (I want to be a part of the great guards of the league. When you see the good guards, they have balanced scoring and assists. I want to be like that.)

He names LA Tenorio, Jayson Castro, and Jayvee Casio as the guards he admires. He hopes to be good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as them.

“Mino-motivate ko sarili ko na maging part ako nun [great guards] (I motivate myself to be a part of that),” Barroca said, adding that Bal David and Tony Parker are his idols in the PBA and NBA.

He also admits that at this point in his career, he is looking to step up his game by being a leader in the team and staying consistent.

“For my entire career, sa kalakasan ko, gusto ko talaga maging part ako nun. Every time pinagpra-pray ko na sana maging consistent ako sa mga magandang ginagawa ko hindi sa mga pangit na ginagawa ko sa court.” (For my entire career, at the peak of my strength, I want to be a part of that. Every time I pray that I stay consistent with the good things I do and not the bad things I do on the court.)

Bagging the Best Player of the Conference award is a dream for the shifty guard as well. 

“Hopefully, ibibigay ni Lord. Syempre work hard lang ako lagi,” he said smiling. (Hopefully, the Lord will give it to me. I’ll just work hard always.) 

Barroca isn’t making much noise just yet, perhaps in lieu of the many struggles his team is going through.

At 27 years old, Barroca is slowly evolving into a leader. And if he can get the rest of his teammates on board, he might as well be crowned Coffee King. – Rappler.com