Ailments slow down Gilas star

Photo from Fiba.com

With the next Gilas Pilipinas game in the Fiba Asia Cup in Beirut not to happen until Wednesday at the earliest, Christian Standhardinger will have some time to recover from a severe stiff neck and a bruised shoulder.

The Filipinos were to face Qatar at press time on Sunday night. Even with a loss, they will advance straight into the quarterfinals where they will clash with either Lebanon or Jones Cup tormentor South Korea for a place in the Final Four.

Victories over China and Iraq allowed the Filipinos to stay away from world power Australia, which could go on to clash with either New Zealand or defending champion China on the way to the title match.

Standhardinger skipped the team’s practice on Saturday and watched his teammates in the shootaround on Sunday leading to the 9 p.m. clash with the winless Qataris.

The Fil-German’s injury cropped up on the day that the 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo finally joined the team in practice after sitting out the first two games because of a calf injury.

Standhardinger has been a force in the middle for Gilas despite being only 6-foot-8, averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.