Redemption not in Reggie Johnson’s mind after crossing paths with Christian Standhardinger once more

The last time Reggie Johnson met Christian Standhardinger somehow left the former haunted.

The two cagers have played against each other back in December of 2017 in the ASEAN Basketball League. Johnson was serving as a World Import for Mono Vampire BC, while Standhardinger was Hong Kong Eastern’s Heritage Import.

It had been a face-off that Johnson would not want to reminisce about as the hefty 6-foot-10 slotman was clearly outplayed by the Filipino-German, who is two inches shorter than him. Standhardinger dropped 40 big points along with 17 rebounds.

Entering Sunday night’s game, there had been some sense of payback in the air as Johnson, now with Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, beat Standhardinger and the San Miguel Beermen, 123-119, in their 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup match.

Even Johnson was stastically better than the 2017’s top overall pick. The American produced 25 points on 53 percent shooting along with 14 rebounds, while Standhardinger only scored 17 on 8-of-20 shooting with 15 boards.

However, Johnson clarified that there was no redemption whatsoever.

“I don’t look at it as redemption,” shared Johnson with a laugh after the match. “You know, this is a whole new league, a whole new season, a whole new team. I know SMB is the favorite team, the favorite to win it, but I don’t care.

“I ain’t laying down for nobody. That was a statement game for us, but we gotta continue to play well and clear some things on our end to continue to be great.”

Not only did Johnson get the best of Standhardinger, but he also made it a tough night for San Miguel’s main man June Mar Fajardo as the reigning, four-time league Most Valuable Player had a rare foul-plague outing.

The Cebuano got his sixth foul with 51.3 ticks left in the fourth quarter, which made it hard for the Beermen to play through the extra period. Fajardo still finished the match as his team’s second-best scorer with 26 markers.

“It was fun. As soon as I arrived here, my first question was about June Mar. I didn’t know who June Mar was until their first game. He’s a good player. I’m a good competitor, I’m not gonna be afraid of him ’cause of his name,” Johnson added.

“It was a fun game. He played hard, they played hard, it was exciting to get the win.”

After Sunday, the Elasto Painters are now sitting atop the standings with a 4-1 card. And for Johnson, there are still some polishings to do on their part, for them to maintain their hold of their coveted position.

“We gotta clear some things in practice – communication, talking at the defensive end is very important and I don’t think we did a good job today, but we got the win,” vowed Johnson, who’s now averaging 26.4 points and 17.4 rebounds.

“We gotta watch some film and continue to get better. We got a big one against Global[Port Batang Pier]. I’m excited about that game also.”