BARANGAY Ginebra center Christian Standhardinger is the frontrunner in the PBA Governors’ Cup Best Player of the Conference derby for obvious reasons.
And there’s no stopping him anytime soon as he came up with another string of monstrous performances in the semis series between the Kings and the San Miguel Beermen, which the reigning champions lead 2-0.
The 6-foot-9 slotman proved to be an immovable force in the two straight win by the Kings, averaging 32.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists to lead the team to another win away from a back-to-back finals trip after ruling the Commissioner’s Cup.
Standhardinger shot an efficient 65-percent to gain the unanimous nod as Cignal Play-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for March 22-26.
His teammate, Scottie Thompson, Meralco’s Aaron Black and TNT’s Roger Pogoy were also considered for the weekly citation.
The Filipino-German ace, winner of the BPC in the 2019 Govs’ Cup, wreaked havoc in Game 1 with 33 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a steal as Ginebra drew first blood 121-112.
He sustained his surge by going for 32 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in another dominant victory by the Kings 121-103 in Game 2.
The four-time champion and last conference’s Finals MVP had it all while playing over 40 minutes per game for a heavy lifting duty for a Ginebra side missing the services of vital cogs Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio.
Standhardinger refused to take all the credit, praising the Kings’ refined chemistry as the key in title retention bid.
“It’s just about playing (good) with my guys. I’ve been playing with Justin, Scottie and all those guys for 2-and-a-half-years now and we’re just clicking. That’s what coach Tim actually said, you build on top of each other and eventually, that’s where you go,” said the 2017 top overall pick.
