The Filipino-German is now 3-of-3 in the biennial conclave among the Southeast Asian nations.
Christian Standhardinger had nothing but praises for Gilas Pilipinas' young guns after the Philippines regained basketball supremacy in the Southeast Asian Games with an 80-69 win over Cambodia on Tuesday.
But among the Gilas newbies, Standhardinger made special mention of De La Salle Green Archers big man Mike Phillips and NLEX Road Warriors’ Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.
“Let’s not forget about the people that I didn’t know that well like Mike and Brandon,” he told One Sports’ Carlo Pamintuan.
“They played amazing. You saw it in the semifinal what they brought to the table with their defense, their switching defense. They’re amazing players.”
Phillips and Ganuelas-Rosser played a key role in the “Redemption Tour” that also saw Gilas exact revenge on erstwhile champion Indonesia in the semifinal at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh.
The best player of the recent PBA Governors’ Cup went on to pay the two bigs the ultimate compliment.
“Those guys, they are the future of Philippine basketball,” Standhardinger said.
Overall, Standhardinger admitted that he enjoyed playing with the rest of the crew that also had naturalized Filipino Justin Brownlee, as well as former teammates Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter, as he earned his third SEA Games gold mint.
“It was such an honor to play with my teammates… I had great teammates here. It was an absolute honor to go to battle with them,” he said.
(With reports from Carlo Pamintuan, One Sports)
(MDB)