DESPITE Magnolia’s failure to make it deep in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs, Mark Barroca is thankful for not having missed a single game yet and continuing to play at a high level despite his advanced age.
The 38-year-old Barroca stretched his streak of most number of consecutive games played to 605 following the ouster of the Hotshots in the quarterfinals of the mid-season conference, becoming only the second player in PBA history to breach the 600 barrier after Barangay Ginebra’s LA Tenorio.
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Looking back, the Zamboanga native, a first-round pick (no. 5 overall) by Shopinas.com in the 2011 draft, said he’s just fortunate enough to be blessed with a healthy body good enough to still compete against younger and athletic players of today.
Barroca is turning 39 this April.
“It’s a blessing sa career ko kasi sa edad ko magti-39 na ko tapos nkakapag-compete pa sa high level ng basketball, kasi alam ninyo naman 'yung mga bata ngayon sobrang skilled ng mga player,” he said.
“So tuluy-tuloy pa rin ako kasi alaga naman ako sa katawan. Siyempre, salamat sa Panginoon sa binibigay sa atin kasi nakakapag-compete pa rin sa mga bata sa edad ko ngayon.”
He could have added more to the numbers had the Hotshots made it to the semifinals.
Unfortunately, the top-seeded Northport Batang Pier cut short the Hotshots' late resurgence by beating them in the quarterfinals, 113-110.
Barroca moved up to No. 2 on the all-time list of most number of consecutive games played, surpassing Magnolia team manager and four-time MVP Alvin Patrimonio last December, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
The Magnolia point guard remains a long way from Tenorio, who holds the record for most number of consecutive games played at 744 before the streak was cut short when he went down with a groin injury and eventually, led to him being diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.
Can he surpass Tenorio?
Now the current leader as far as the same record is concerned, Barroca believes it would take a whole lot of playing through aches and pain before he could surpass the now 40-year-old Ginebra playmaker's record.
But who knows? Records are meant to be broken as they say.
“Yung 600 tingnan natin kung hanggang saan yun,” said Barroca. “Kaya pa naman. Alaga lang dapat sa katawan.”
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