WITH Barangay Ginebra in need of a spark as it tries to hold onto a twice-to-beat incentive in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup, coach Tim Cone turned to Ralph Cu for some added push.
And Cu answered the call.
Playing mostly in garbage time as he went scoreless in the massive blowout loss to Meralco just two days ago, Cu sparked Ginebra’s surge in the second quarter as the crowd favorites took a character-defining 114-90 win over Rain or Shine on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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The 2023 PBA Draft second-rounder hit three treys while making some key passes in the period and finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists in the win.
“He stepped up tonight and hit big shot after big shot after big shot. I don’t play him enough. I know that, when he does things like this I feel like such an idiot because he should be out there doing that stuff all the time,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said.
“I’m always apologizing to him but I got to learn my lesson and quit feeling like an idiot.”
Ginebra import Justin Brownlee couldn’t be happier for Cu – a player who he describes as having terrific court sense and a knack for making the correct plays and reads.
On a night when he scored 40 on 24 shots, Brownlee turned the spotlight on the rarely-used forward – sharing that he’s not exactly surprised with how Cu performed on Sunday as he sees it with each practice.
“We see that everyday in practice. He’s a guy that brings it every game in practice. He seems to always be in the right place and at the right time. Whether just making shots, or making the right pass, or cutting, he’s very intelligent,” Brownlee said “His IQ is probably one of the highest I’ve ever played with. He’s just a joy to play with.”
The lack of playing time isn’t really an issue for the La Salle product – especially as he came into this team knowing that his number is not always going to get called.
But he knows he’s here for a reason and all he can do is to stay ready – like he did today against the team that’s dominated for much of the conference.
“Ever since I was drafted I knew Ginebra was always going to be a deep team especially if Justin’s there a lot of [our] minutes would definitely go down,” Cu said.“As a player you have to stay ready, anytime your number’s called, first half, second half, you just have to stay ready and make an impact.”
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