Christian Standhardinger made his awaited debut in the PBA on Wednesday.
It may not have been the debut he was hoping for, but Christian Standhardinger wasn’t exactly looking for an eye-popping statline on Wednesday night.
“That’s what I’ve told guys I’m gonna do. I’m not gonna go out here like in the ABL where I’m like the main scorer of the team and try to aggressively get my points,” said Standhardinger.
The Fil-German big man got his first shot down — his patented baseline jumper — on his way to four points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He posted the best plus-minus for the Beermen with his plus-eight in his 20 minutes of play.
The Beermen’s efforts weren’t enough to hold off Baser Amer and Meralco as they absorbed a 93-85 defeat in their first game.
“Everybody saw the game, we lost. That’s unfortunate, that was not good. But you know, I think I’m OK,” he said.
Though a lot expected from a player of such talent, Standhardinger insisted that he won’t have the same numbers as he did in the ABL, but would be doing a lot more than just score for San Miguel.
“I shot five shots and I’m just trying to facilitate, get the guys open, and put the guys in a right situation. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out today,” he said.
Coach Leo Austria had a chance to experiment with an array of lineups, pairing Standhardinger at times with fellow big men June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, and import Troy Gillenwater.
Though that resulted in varying success, the 28-year-old slotman knows that he still needs time to better blend in with his new teammates.
“I think the chemistry was good but obviously, the team’s still adjusting to that,” he said. “I’m looking forward to further exploring what we can do. I’m looking forward to getting a victory and get us on the right track again.”