It was just Gilas’ first tune-up, but Christian Standhardinger already knows one of the things he has to work on.
The Filipino-German forward vowed to buckle down to work on his free throws following horrid shooting from the stripe in Gilas Pilipinas’ friendly versus the Jordanian national team, Monday evening at the Meralco Gym.
Standhardinger was at the forefront of the Nationals’ attack, as he produced 21 points. But his output could have been higher – and could have helped Gilas – had he made his shots from the foul line in the final frame.
The 6-foot-8 Filipino-German went 0-for-6 in the last chapter. And Gilas lost, 98-92.
“I hope I can just practice and hope for the best,” said the well-spoken 29-year-old, who finished the game with a team-high 21 points.
“That’s what my mother always says: ‘You can just give your best, son, and if it doesn’t work out, then it’s okay.’ I’m trying to take that advice to heart.”
But on a much wider scope, Standhardinger is also keen to work on a few things out with his teammates such as chemistry, which was absent in their narrow loss to Jordan, ranked 46th in the world.
“Obviously we need to really work on our connections. We have twenty guys in the pool right now so we need to really focus on getting the chemistry down,” said the National Team mainstay.
“Obviously you’re trying to win every game, but in this game it was more important that we try something out, try new things out to know exactly how our teammates run from different teams in the PBA,” said Standhardinger.
“I think it’s a long journey, but I think we will be ready.”
