Barangay Ginebra will continue to contend for PBA championships and head coach Tim Cone wants to do it with Mark Caguioa.

Cone expressed his desire to have Caguioa on board for next season after Ginebra disposed of TNT in 5 games to capture the coveted Philippine Cup crown for the first time in 13 years.

“I’m hoping Mark Caguioa decides to play one more year only because he is just such a presence on the team,” Cone said.

The idea of retiring has been floated to Caguioa, who is the longest tenured and oldest player in the team at 41 years old.

In fact, Caguioa is the only player left from the Ginebra crew that won the franchise its last All-Filipino title back in 2007.

But the former league MVP, who suited up in his 19th season, has since reiterated he will only hang up his spurs when his body can no longer take the rigors of the PBA grind.

While Caguioa did not see action in the best-of-seven finals against TNT and played only 3 games throughout the conference, Cone said the nine-time PBA champion guard remains valuable to the team.

“He is a presence in the locker room, he is a presence at practice. [He is] incredibly [a] positive influence to the younger players,” Cone said.

“So I’m hoping he’ll come back and play one more year.”

The 46th PBA season kicks off in April 2021. – Rappler.com