He surely knows how to play different roles under coach Tim Cone.
The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings are missing two of their usual starters in Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio, but Christian Standhardinger, Von Pessumal, and Jeremiah Gray make it hard to call this team undermanned.
Pessumal scored 14 points in extended minutes while Gray tallied a double-double of 11 markers and 11 boards—performances that coach Tim Cone definitely welcomes.
Shining the brightest among the Gin Kings on Friday was Standhardinger, who was on his way to a triple-double before he was subbed out with over 9 minutes remaining in the game versus the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters. He finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists to lead Ginebra to the 109-89 win.
Great numbers, but PBA fans are not surprised to see this from the 6-foot-8 Filipino-German.
After all, he’s a former Best Player of the Conference. He won the award in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup as part of the NorthPort Batang Pier, besting June Mar Fajardo of the San Miguel Beermen and Jayson Castro of the TNT KaTropa.
Being part now of a championship-caliber team in Ginebra, he’s had to play a different role. Granted, he did win PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals MVP just last January, but his averages of 10.9 points and 7 rebounds only show that hard-nosed Christian won that award, not BPC Christian.
But with Aguilar out, Standhardinger has to flip the switch to BPC mode.
And he does so with ease, like riding a bike.
“With Japeth out, he’s getting the heavier minutes, and we have to go to him. He’s responding big time,” Coach Tim said. “Instead of finding who’s gonna replace Japeth, I just put more load on this guy. So he has to do more work.”
Standhardinger did work and eat, giving the Barangay the victory as the eliminations of the PBA Governors' Cup wind down.
With the hungry Converge FiberXers awaiting the Gin Kings on Sunday, Cone's squad would want—or need—to see more of Christian's BPC mode.