MANILA – San Miguel Beermen rookie Christian Standhardinger played down his subpar PBA debut in his team’s 85-93 loss to the Meralco Bolts in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Standhardinger, the top overall pick in the 2017 PBA Rookie Draft, finished his debut game with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers in around 19 minutes of play.
“That’s what I told you I’m going to do: I’m not going to go out there like in the (ASEAN Basketball League) where I was the main scorer of the team and trying to really aggressively get my points,” Standhardinger said after the game.
He added: “I shot just five shots and I’m just trying to facilitate, and get the guys open, and put the guys in the right situation, and unfortunately, that didn’t work out. And I think in this team, we have many scorers. My job is to defend, give energy and facilitate more. That was my main focus on the court.”
Standhardinger also said he does not mind playing off the bench for Beermen and is willing to adjust to the style of head coach Leo Austria, which he said was different than when he was still playing for Hong Kong in ABL.
“We play a little bit slower than my Hong Kong team, sprinting up and down, and here, it’s more like a half-court game, so I will need to adjust to that,” the 6-foot-8 Standhardinger said.
He also needs to adjust to the different way the games are called.
“Obviously, I need to really fit into my role in this team, but I think everybody kind of did a bad job, so I feel like. I think I’m okay,” he added.
The Filipino-German big man will have a chance to redeem himself when the defending champions Beermen takes on Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Sunday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City./PN
