Christian Standhardinger will once again be flying the Philippine flag on the international stage.
Last Friday, the Fil-German bruiser was named to the 12-man Gilas Pilipinas roster that will see action in the 30th Southeast Asian Games slated from November 30-December 11.
Standhardinger last played for the national team in the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifers back in December 2018. Now, he feels honored for the inclusion.
“I’m very honored that I’m part of this team. Always honored to play with Gilas,” he said on Monday after NorthPort’s 115-90 victory over NLEX in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
“I can’t wait to play in the SEA Games. Thank you for the trust of coach [Tin Cone], and I’m going to give my best to the country like I always do when I play with Gilas,” added the 30-year-old cager.
This will be Standhardinger’s second straight SEA Games stint. He was part of the Philippine contingent for the 2017 edition of the meet, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
There, the Filipino dribblers won by an average of 34.2 points as they swept their way to the country’s 17th gold.
Standhardinger, though, is wary that the other ASEAN teams have improved since the previous SEA Games. He asserted that he and his fellow flagbearers will not take this year’s contest lightly.
“The other Asian teams got better, that’s very obvious,” said the former ASEAN Basketball League import. “I really like that we don’t take this stuff lightly. We’re trying to get there with our best squad.
“Obviously there are injuries, but I like that we don’t take it lightly, and we’re all out in this.”
