Ever since he arrived in the Philippines last June 28, Christian Standhardinger has not stopped playing for Gilas Pilipinas and his club teams.
The 6-foot-8 Filipino-German began his Philippine team stint during the Jones Cup. He then played in both the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup and the Southeast Asian Games – a journey that saw him fly from Lebanon to Malaysia in just a span of two weeks.
After playing for the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions in the ABL, he quickly suited up for the San Miguel Beermen. But he continued to wear the flag as he played in both the 2018 FIBA 3X3 World Cup and the 2018 Asian Games.
Rest definitely is not in Standhardinger’s vocabulary. Arriving from Indonesia last Saturday, he quickly went to the SMART Araneta Coliseum to play for San Miguel later in the evening.
Monday evening, during Gilas’ first practice for the first window of the second round of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, the 29-year-old was supposed to sit out. But he made sure to get a few shots up first before he went to watch on the sidelines.
It’s his way of keeping his competitive juices flowing for the next battle.
“I would’ve loved to play five-on-five, but I tried to do the smarter way. I can’t stop shooting and keep improving,” shared Standhardinger, with ice packs taped on both of his knees.
“I’m gonna be ready.”
However, Gilas is currently in a dilemma right now.
Both Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle are classified as naturalized players by the International Basketball Federation. On the other hand, Greg Slaughter has yet to provide his papers that would prove that he already had a Philippine passport before he turned 16 years of age.
Worse comes to worst, Guiao will have a tough task of choosing either Standhardinger, Pringle, or Slaughter as Gilas’ sole naturalized player against Iran and Qatar.
But Standhardinger has no qualms over this, saying that he will understand the decision when it comes.
“You know me, I’m not a player who’s not honored to be part of the national team,” he expressed. “That’s on coach. Coach knows what I bring to the table and I know that Stanley and Greg are amazing basketball players.
“If he chooses one of them cause he thinks they could help them more to win, I’m all for it and Ill be the biggest cheerleader on my TV. But if he chooses me, Ill take the call that I did every single time.
“Let’s see what happens. If they call me, I’ll play. If they don’t, Ill be there, shooting free throws somewhere,” he added.
