‘Country calls’ and Standhardinger answers right away

Christian Standhardinger just had, probably, his strangest night as a professional basketball player in Game 5 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

On one part, his team San Miguel lost 87-83 to Barangay Ginebra and dropped 3-2 in the series, and on the other he was called up to the Philippine national team bound for the Asian Games minutes before tipoff.

And Standhardinger still has lingering pain issues with his left knee after he suffered an injury early in the conference.

“I want actually to use this break to strengthen my left knee but the country calls and there’s really no choice for me, I want to represent the country,” said Standhardinger. “I want to make my fellow Filipinos proud, our countrymen proud and I hope that we can do that.”

Standhardinger, who finished with three points and four rebounds in Game 5, said he found out about the call up just before he took to the floor and he immediately expressed his joy.

“I actually found out before I shut down my cellphone to get ready for the game then I just made a post to express how honored I am and how excited I am,” said Standhardinger, who is San Miguel’s top draft pick of the 2017 Draft.

With the national team, under head coach Yeng Guiao, squeezing everything in less than two weeks of preparation, Standhardinger knows he will have to focus on two things simultaneously.

San Miguel still has a chance to retain their Commissioner’s Cup if it can force, and win, Game 7 on August 10 just four days before Standhardinger and the rest of the national team fly to Indonesia.

“I hope that I can still focus on the finals and join the team,” said Standhardinger. “For me, obviously, the first priority is to try to win the finals here. That’s very important for me and for San Miguel. And after that I can completely focus on hopefully getting some victories in the Asian Games.”