Christian Standhardinger is building himself into the epitome of steadiness in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
On Sunday, the Filipino-German forward finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists to help the San Miguel Beermen beat the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 134-109, to even their best-of-seven series to a game apiece.
Sunday night’s outing proved a fitting follow-up to his performance back in Game One last Friday. Though San Miguel lost big, 99-127, Standhardinger provided a silver lining as he had 26 points and eight rebounds.
“Talagang very evident ‘yung importance niya,” said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria.
Standhardinger has definitely made waves with the way he’s been playing for the Beermen, who are keen on keeping their hold of the Commissioner’s Cup throne. But for the 29-year-old, he’s just simply glad to be able to deliver.
“I’m just happy that I’m on the court. I’m just happy that I can contribute but mostly, I’m happy that we win,” he shared. “If you guys watch me there, if I play five minutes, twelve minutes or thirty minutes, I don’t care.
“As long as we win, it’s going to be great and obviously, I’m just trying to help the team as much as I can.”
Standhardinger lauded the way he and the Beermen were able to show intensity against the Gin Kings. For the Gilas Pilipinas stalwart, intensity will still be the key for them in Game Three on Wednesday, as they look to go up 2-1.
“I can just say that we really need to focus to keep that intensity up. I think if we keep that intensity up, it’s good.”