TOP overall pick Christian Standhardinger admitted that he has huge shoes to fill as defending champion San Miguel Beer fell to two straight losses in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
The 6-foot-8 Filipino-German found his groove and finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds against Rain or Shine last Sunday. But playing all-Filipino almost the entire match wore the Beermen down, 119-123, in overtime at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Standhardinger, who only had four points in their 85-93 loss to Meralco last week, pulled off a performance expected of him.
He had a tough night by manning the post in the absence of import Troy Gillenwater, who was thrown out in the second quarter after an altercation with a game official.
From there, Standhardinger worked hand in hand with Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo, yet San Miguel blew away golden opportunities to steal the win in regulation. And Rain or Shine, behind Raymond Almazan and import Reggie Johnson, refused to buckle in the the extra period.
Despite his monstrous numbers, Standhardinger believed he must exert more effort in order to satisfy the team.
“I’m okay with whatever role I am needed in. I really need to fine tune my role,” he said.