BARANGAY Ginebra stumbled on a gem in Ralph Cu from its team in the PBA 3x3 campaign.
It could have gotten two more valuable players had the Kings opted to either draft or sign them. Unfortunately, such wasn’t the case.
Kim Aurin and Encho Serrano both had stints with the Ginebra 3x3 team in the past and many believed would have been good additions to its roster had they ended up with the PBA’s most popular ballclub in the five-a-side game.
But as fate would have it, the two players ended up in different teams where they have been playing very well – Aurin with the TNT Tropang Giga and Serrano with Phoenix Fuel Masters and now with the Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the MPBL.
To be fair, the Kings picked Aurin in the third round in last season’s draft (No. 34 overall) after selecting Cu earlier with the No. 23 pick in the second round.
Coach Tim Cone admitted the team has its eyes on Cu ahead of Aurin.
“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,” recalled the Ginebra coach.
“So it wasn’t a pick like were were doing it just because he played for us. 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.”
Cu repays Cone faith
The 26-year-old Cu has since earned his spot at Ginebra as part of Cone’s starting unit, averaging 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists heading to the Philippine Cup semifinals.
Ginebra was still willing to accommodate Aurin despite signing Cu as part of its roster, but he would've to toil again as part of the Kings' 3x3 team.
It didn’t help any that Aurin was then nursing a back injury which convinced Ginebra all the more that he should stay with the 3x3 unit.
But the former University of Perpetual Help gunner felt he was ready to play 5-on-5 in Asia’s pioneering pro league that when a short-term offer from TNT came, he willingly accepted it and took his act to the Tropang Giga as a rookie free agent.
Now Aurin is a valuable contributor off the bench for TNT coach Chot Reyes, submitting numbers of 9.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. His previous six-month contract was likewise reconstructed into a lucrative two-year deal.
Ginebra passes on Encho shot
Of course, the biggest surprise was Ginebra skipping the chance to grab Serrano in the Season 47 draft.
The formerly De La Salle guard was coming off a huge season with the Ginebra 3x3 team and proved to be a dominant force during the 2022 Draft Combine where he was named the MVP.
With the Kings having a first-round pick that same rookie draft, everybody expected the team to take in Serrano with its No. 8 selection.
Lo and behold, the team left out Serrano and opted to pick Javi Gomez De Liano, a player who would never get to wear the Ginebra jersey as he would be traded a few days later to Terrafirma for No. 2 overall selection Jeremiah Gray.
The Kings owned a second-round pick at No. 20, but the 5-foot-9 gungho guard was too good to pass up for the Phoenix Fuel Masters, who beat Ginebra to the draw by taking in Serrano at No. 19.
Ginebra later settled for Jayson David, a teammate of Serrano in the King’s 3x3 team of coach Kirk Collier.
'What if'
Serrano went on to carve out a productive rookie season with the Fuel Masters and was named to the All-Rookie team.
After a year, he left the league and played for his benefactor Pampanga Gov. Dennis ‘Delta’ Pineda, playing a huge role in the Giant Lanterns’ run to a first-ever MPBL championship.
It may seemed impossible to have the three playing together at Barangay Ginebra given the circumstances that led to where they are now.
But the 'what if' thought of it will always be there.
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