About two years ago, Jayson David and Ralph Cu were trying to crack a PBA roster spot.
Their patience were rewarded as both players are now turning out to become key contributors for Barangay Ginebra, which is currently battling defending PBA Philippine Cup champion in the best-of-seven semifinals showdown that is tied at 2-2 apiece.
In Barangay Ginebra’s 105-91 triumph on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena, it was Scottie Thompson who took center stage as he became the first local player to score 30-plus points and wind up with a triple-double performance.
Thompson came away with 35 points on top of pulling down 11 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists, but David managed to make his presence felt with his own impactful performance where he registered 12 points and seven boards.
In the series opener, which was also won by the Gin Kings, it was Cu who provided quality minutes by producing 13 points, including four three-point shots.
Looking back at how far David and Cu had gone through coming from their humble beginnings where they need to work extremely hard just to earn a roster spot, head coach Tim Cone could only admire the resiliency shown by these two players coming from obscurity and now beginning to make their mark to become an integral part of the team’s rotation.
Cone didn’t take credit in discovering these two players, but instead deflected the praise on former long-time player development coach Kirk Collier, who is now assisting LA Tenorio at the Magnolia Hotshots.
“We did draft him,” said Cone, referring to David’s potential. “The reason why we drafted him was because we kinda knew him from our 3×3 team. If you look at Jayson and you look at Ralph Cu, I think you’ve got to give credit to Coach Kirk Collier, all the credit. He’s the one that brought them from the 3×3 team. Nobody knew who they were. And then, we were able to use them in the PBA On The Road and we had a closer look on them and also Kim Aurin, who is another guy on our 3×3 team. We didn’t get a chance to draft Kim when he went to TNT. “
Cone was amazed by the work ethic shown by David and Cu.
“They came in for a long time,” he added. “Jayson was a practice player for about a year-and-a-half or two years, didn’t really get on the court, but we all knew he was a really good player. He had a great potential.”
“Everyday, he got out, worked with Coach Kirk, just over and over and over again. He and Ralph but did the early work. It’s not just it showed up. Jayson worked really, really hard to get to this point. I think as a team, as an organization, we really embraced those kinds of guys and the fans knew, too. Basically coming from nowhere, getting opportunity, seizing that, and making an impact in the playoffs.”
David’s versatility had allowed him to match up well with Don Trollano, perhaps the best Sixth Man in the league right now. The PBA’s winningest coach was quick to notice and in fact compared him to one of the NBA’s best swingman.
“If he let his game come to him, he’s so dynamic. I always tell him he reminds me of Jimmy Butler, wide bodied, can play bigger than he is. He’s so versatile. I know Jimmy Butler well because I followed Miami closely. He kinda reminded me of Jimmy from way back. Now, he’s getting that opportunity to show that at this point.”
“Of course, he’s not as good as Jimmy Butler, but he plays a similar type of game.”
Like David, Cu was special player and Cone knew where the latter was coming from.
“Jayson is a special player and I think Ralph Cui is in that category, too. He was a guy who was cut from La Salle.. You were cut by your college team and then you were still able to make it to play for the most popular team in the PBA, and impacted that team as well. Both of them had great stories,” added Cone.
