Baguio on slit-throat gesture: 'It was only a joke'

Is Cyrus Baguio, a one-time Gin King, the new villain in the eyes of Barangay Ginebra fans? The high-flying forward caught the ire of the fans, composed mostly of the 21,062 who trooped to the Big Dome, after he threw a throat-slash gesture when he passed by the Ginebra bench. But Baguio defended himself on radio program DWSY Sports Radio, where he was a guest on Tuesday. Baguio apologized to the fans and explained that the gesture was just a joke and was meant to tease former teammate Celino Cruz. "It was only a joke intended for Celino, my former teammate. That was not for the whole Ginebra team." "It only looked ugly when (Alaska assistant) coach Joel (Banal) approached me like he was trying to cool me down, he thought that I confronted someone, but the truth is, it was just a simple incident." Curiously, Baguio's action brought back memories of a more infamous scene that happened in 1997 when the legendary Robert Jaworski made a similar throat-slash gesture to the referees for not removing a fallen Allan Caidic, who was grimacing in pain after colliding with then San Miguel Beer teammate Nelson Asaytono. Baguio and Cruz were former teammates with Red Bull and Ginebra. "I have friends with the Ginebra team, from the coaching staff to the ball boys, so I apologize to the fans if the incident was misinterpreted," he said. Alaska coach Tim Cone said that he didn't see the incident. The multi-titled mentor believes the former University of Santo Tomas Growling Tiger is a nice player and even compared his attitude to Johnny Abarrientos, who spearheaded Alaska's dynasty in the 1990s. "I didn't see it, but of course if you're playing your former team, you want to win. But I know Cyrus now, he's not the type of player who will do nasty things," said Cone. "Actually, he's a humble guy and he reminds me a lot of Johnny. They have almost the same personality." Baguio played a key role in Game 5 when he scored 22 points and drained 5-of-7 three-pointers. He also helped set up the winning basket scored by import Diamon Simpson with five seconds left when he dished out a bounce pass against a double team to Joe Devance, who then found Simpson open inside the shaded lane with the shot clock winding down. On the next play, Baguio made the biggest defensive play of the game by stripping the ball off Eric Menk in Ginebra's last possession before splitting his charities for the final tally. - JVP, GMANews.TV