Christian Standhardinger. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Already with formidable starting five bannered by four-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, San Miguel just got a lot stronger after it traded for the number one pick in the 2017 PBA Rookie Draft and selected Christian Standhardinger.
Now the onus on the rest league to figure out how to stop the three-time defending Philippine Cup champions this coming PBA season.
Apart from the overwhelming talent at all posititons, the biggest problem the Beermen pose is size.
“Well, our work just got harder,” quipped Alaska coach Alex Compton. “San Miguel’s clearly the best team in the league. I wish San Miguel has a weakness but they don’t. So our job, the rest of us coaches, is try to find a way, but it’s not gonna be being taller than San Miguel. So we’ll just work and try to make a way.”
“It’s going to be nice to see June Mar and Christian play together, but my tweet was specifically for the Gilas program,” shared TNT coach Nash Racela. “I was hoping to see them play together in Gilas but it will happen in the PBA with San Miguel. This just makes it harder for all the other teams.”
“The job gets harder because the disparity just got wider. That’s going to be our task, to compete with teams as strong as San Miguel,” said new Phoenix coach Louie Alas.
Meanwhile, NLEX coach Yeng Guiao said that the controversy surrounding the trade between Kia and San Miguel casts the PBA in a bad light.
“I’m saddened more than angered. I’m just sad over the situation because everyone who I talked to had some misgivings about the situation, and I can’t explain it enough because I’m also part of the PBA,” he said.
The Beermen acquired the Picanto’s top overall pick in this year’s annual rookie selection in exchange for Ronald Tubid, JayR Reyes, Rashawn McCarthy, and a 2019 first round pick, a deal which PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa green-lighted on Friday.
“We have an intelligent basketball public. They know what’s happening. The sad thing for me is we’ve already been judged,” he said.
Now the only thing left to do for the 11 other teams in the PBA is to be on their 100-percent or more whenever they play San Miguel.
“Maybe it’s time to move on. The more we give reasons, the more the people will be angered. We just have to live with that,” he said.