Ginebra already knew what it could get from Ralph Cu even before drafting him, owing to his time with the franchise’s PBA 3×3 and On Tour teams.
But the Kings did not expect the rookie forward out of De La Salle to be playing the way he’s been doing in the ongoing Season 48 Philippine Cup.
“I don’t think we expected this early. Certainly not when we drafted him,” admitted head coach Tim Cone.
“But we did know a lot about him.”
The league’s winningest mentor said as much after the Barangay’s 95-88 win over NorthPort, in which his ward submitted his best performance to date.
Cu finished with season-highs of 24 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists as he sparked his side’s late-game pull-away toward their first back-to-back wins since starting the season-ending conference with two victories in a row.
The 23rd overall pick of the 2024 PBA Rookie Draft was just an assist shy of becoming the first rookie to record a triple-double in a game since Scottie Thompson in 2016, according to league stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
He shot 6-of-11 from beyond the arc, carrying over his hot shooting from their 105-86 rout of Blackwater just last Friday. There, he went 4-of-7 from deep and finished with 14 points, which was his season-high back then.
“I’m just trying to make the most out of the opportunity na binibigay sa akin ni Coach Tim and the coaches,” he said.
“Gusto rin namin manalo kasi ‘yung standings, medyo dikit-dikit. Gusto namin magkaroon ng kaunting separation.”
That string of impressive performances further proves Cone and the coaches right in their decision to use their second-round pick on him.
“He played in our PBA [On] Tour team and he played in the 3×3, so the coaches were really excited about him,” said the 65-year-old bench tactician.
“We knew going into that draft that he’s going to be our target. We didn’t have a first-round pick and we were hoping that he would land into the second round.
“So it wasn’t a pick like we were doing it just because he played for our ‘On Tour’ team. We were sitting on pins and needles hoping we could get him, that no one else would draft him. And no one else knew him like we did,” he added.
But following his introduction of sorts to the league on Sunday night, Cone and Co. now anticipate defenses to go tougher on Cu moving forward.
“[Almost a] Triple-double, these are big numbers for anybody. So he just kind of announced himself to the league so I’m sure the next time out, they’re going to be a little bit more conscious of him,” he said.
