Photo from Fiba.com
National team coach Yeng Guiao said choosing Stanley Pringle over Christian Standhardinger as the Philippines’ naturalized player was a hard decision to make.
But that’s not a knock on the explosive Pringle, who also brings a ton of upside to Gilas Pilipinas.
“Stanley Pringle is taking over the naturalized position over Christian Standhardinger. That was very a difficult decision, agonizing decision with the way Christian was playing not only against Iran but consistently playing for the national team even from the asian games,” Guiao told reporters after Philippine team practice at Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday on the eve of its game against Qatar in the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
“But Stanley also brings a lot to the game he creates a lot of situations for his teammates. He can score, he can defend, he can pass. We’ll miss Christian, but Stanley gives us another dimension, so I think whatever we lose with Christian not playing, we’ll be able to get some other way with Stanley.”
Standhardinger, the Fil-German bruiser, was Gilas’ naturalized player in an 81-73 loss to Iran on Thursday where led the team with a game-high 30 points and 12 rebounds.
Pringle last played in the Asian Games last month where he was among the Philippines’ best players along with Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson and Standhardinger.
Apart from Pringle, Guiao will also have the returning Matthew Wright and Japeth Aguilar, who served a one-game suspension for their participation in the ugly melee against Australia last July, at his disposal.
The Philippines was in dire need of additional outisde threat against Iran after shooting just 18 percent from the 3-point area and the sweet-shooting Wright would’ve made a big difference.
“Matthew is going to provide us an extra option as an extra shooting weapon for this team. We’ve had some problems with our soutside shoting against Iran so that’s a welcome addition,” Guiao said.
“Japeth adds the size, the length and the inside presence. He’s a defensive stopper and rim protector. We missed them actually.”
The Nationals hope to redeem themselves against the shorthanded Qataris in a closed-door encounter Monday, 7:30 p.m., at Araneta Coliseum.
Qatar, which took a 43-95 beatdown at the hands of Australia in Doha, will have to make do without several of their key pieces in Mansour Elhadary, Abdulrahman Saad, Erfan Saeed and naturalized player Clinton Johnson due to injuries.