By REYNALD MAGALLON
A first overall pick in the PBA rookie draft is often seen as a foundation piece of a team that selected it and that’s what Geo Chiu hopes to provide to a Terrafirma squad aching to change its “losing” image for the better.
The 6-foot-9 center was selected first overall in the 2025 PBA rookie draft on Sunday, Sept. 7 at the Mall of Asia Music Hall.
He will be joining a young and promising crew that also featured the likes of Mark Nonoy and Paolo Hernandez and tasked to turn things around after a 3-28 record last season and two failed bids to sell the franchise.
“You know, entering a team that’s something you wanna do: you wanna help the team and hopefully get some more wins. But siyempre, it also depends sa samahan namin ng mga teammates namin,“ said Chiu after topping the league golden draft class that also featured Juan Gomez de Liano and Dalph Panopio.
“Hopefully, as the season passes by, the more games we play, hopefully we build more chemistry. Hopefully, it will help us get more wins,” he added.
The problem, however, Chiu’s PBA debut may have to wait as he is still set to play with the Abra Weavers in the ongoing MPBL season. Should the Weavers go all the way to the Finals, the Dyip may have to wait until December for Chiu to join the team.
Although they have yet to talk about the specifics of the arrangement, Chiu said he and head coach Ronald Tubid had already agreed that he can attend the Dyip practice if he has free time to expedite his adjustment to the team.
“Pinagusapan namin na pag may mga breaks kami, come over and join the team practices para kahit papano makapag get together with the teammates and practice na rin,” he said.
