Christian Standhardinger’s status for the Fiba 3×3 World Cup remains uncertain with just two days away before the men’s tournament tips off at Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
Standhardinger missed his second straight game for the San Miguel Beermen on Wednesday night but he is keen on playing for the Philippine team in the 3×3.
But that’s if his right knee, which is still swollen, would allow him to compete against the world’s best.
“We [had] an MRI so there’s nothing’s broken. It just swells up because all my muscles are very, very tight,” Standhardinger told reporters on Wednesday after the Beermen rolled past Columbian Dyip for their third consecutive win. “And then, when it swells up it can lock and when it locks, I can’t move anymore so that’s what I’m worried about.”
“No, there’s no guarantee. But I can say that I will try everything in my power,” he said. “I can only say day-by-day. So I’m gonna like be at practice, I’m gonna sit there. I hope it doesn’t swell up more. Obviously, I’m trying everything in my power to play on Saturday. And San Miguel is doing a great job backing me for that goal.”
The Fil-German forward will be teaming up with TNT’s Roger Pogoy and Troy Rosario and Stanley Pringle in the tournament where Standhardinger believes required every player to be in tiptop shape.
And conditioning is also a cause of concern for Standhardinger.
“It’s a very high pace, you need a lot of conditioning [and] that’s another problem. I have not been playing for the last five days something like that so obviously I need to try to workout so I’m not going to be really out of shape when I play, but I can’t put too much stress on the knee yet because I want to recover as good as possible on the tournament day,” he said.
“The thing is, what I’m trying to do is not easy, but like I said, [I will do] everything in my power to play for Gilas and play 3-on-3 and represent the country.”
Standhardinger’s commitment to the national team despite his situation has been commendable and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“We’re able to ask him not to play because he’s preparing for the 3×3, and we don’t want him to play with injuries. That’s why we opted not to let him play,” said SMB head coach Leo Austria.
“That is for his own good and for the good of the country because he doesn’t want to break his commitment. I think that kind of attitude for a player is really something for our national team.”