CHRISTIAN Standhardinger admitted he was eager to prove something to San Miguel Beer after playing a key role in NorthPort’s upset of his former team in their PBA Governors’ Cup match Wednesday at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Standhardinger had 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists in 45 minutes as the Batang Pier stunned the Beermen with a 127-119 victory in his first game since being traded last Oct. 14.
While expressing no ill feelings over the deal that saw the Beermen get Mo Tautuaa in return, Standhardinger didn’t mince words about his determination to show what he can do when given the chance.
“I have to prove something to the coaching staff that I think they made a mistake,” Standhardinger told reporters after being the last player inside the NorthPort locker room. “Maybe they did not make a mistake and they played me the right way because we won two championships and that’s okay.
The 6-foot-8 cager’s minutes have been inconsistent since being taken by SMB as the top overall pick of the 2017 Rookie Draft. He appeared in a total of 51 minutes in four games for the Beermen in the current conference before the trade.
“But me as a player, I can’t just sit down and be ‘Okay, the coaching staff didn’t think that I’m good and that’s how it is now’. No, I gotta be the player that I can be and I play my heart out to prove to the coaching staff, to coach Leo that he could have played me more and I could have helped more. But that’s how it is and it’s nothing personal.
“I don’t want anybody of you guys (the media) make it personal. It’s nothing. It’s professional. Coach Leo (Austria) thought that I’m not that good and that’s why he played me the minutes he played me and I think that I’m good.
“Now I’m here at NorthPort, I’m trying to work my butt off to prove to them that I’m a good basketball player and that’s it,” he added.
Standhardinger talked with Austria after the game but refused to reveal details of their conversation, only saying that it was done “very respectfully.”
“That’s just something that I had to get off my heart and I think it was something very respectful, and I did not men it in a mean demeanor, whatsoever,” he said. “It happened, the coaching staff traded me away and that’s where I am right now and now I am trying to be the best professional player I can be and help NorthPort win games.”
Standhardinger’s presence along with new import Michael Qualls, who posted 40 points and 18 rebounds, put the Batang Pier in a share of sixth to eighth places at 3-4 with defending champion Magnolia and Columbian.
Getting consistent productions from both are now important more than ever, with rookie Robert Bolick’s status still in doubt following a knee injury sustained in the same game. (Jonas Terrado)
