It was a special Sunday night for Christian Standhardinger.
After five games on the sidelines due to a knee injury, the Fil-German forward finally returned to San Miguel Beermen, when they took on Alaska Aces at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
But the game was more than that.
His mother, Liz, and his grandparents were in attendance. They witnessed how Standhardinger played spirited ball en route to 23 points and seven rebounds to help SMB to a 114-96 win.
“I tried to play with an extra motivation of course just to make them proud,” shared Standhardinger, as his mother and grandparents have never watched a PBA game until now.
More than the extra motivation, though, his performance can also be attributed to his leaner physique. Standhardinger said that he lost around 10 to 12 pounds so that he could help his knees better.
“I wanna lose weight to have less weight on my knee. So I lost a lot, but I felt good out there today, and I’m happy that I was able to contribute and help the team,” said the 6-foot-8, 29-year-old.
Still, Standhardinger said that he’s yet to regain his game shape, and that is why he welcomes their break before the playoffs, which will commence on the first week of April.
“There’s a difference of game shape, you know. So I need like maybe three more games, two more games to really get back in the shape I was before the injury. And I hope I can do that as quick as possible to help the team,” Standhardinger said.
“I’m happy that we have a break and that I can really keep my recovery and keep loading, so I can jump a little higher and don’t get my shot blocked all the time.”
