Justin Brownlee had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Ginebra. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Christian Standhardinger sees no reason for Barangay Ginebra to use the absence of the injured Japeth Aguilar as an excuse for him and the rest of Gin Kings to raise their play to the championship level they are all capable of.
“Obviously missing Japeth is a big hit to the team,” Standhardinger said after his 27 points helped Ginebra roll to a 119-93 romp over an anemic Blackwater side on Sunday in the PBA Governors’ Cup at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
With Aguilar still using an immobilizer and declared out for at least the next three weeks due to an MCL sprain, Standhardinger has seen his responsibilities increase while trying to figure out a way for the Gin Kings to make up for the absence of their finest last-line defender.
Standhardinger had 29 points two nights earlier, when Ginebra lost, 102-99, to San Miguel Beer, before keeping his offensive going while sharing defensive duties to frustrate Blackwater and snap a two-game skid.
“That’s the great thing about our team,” he said. “As a unit, we know what we can compensate for since we’re missing such a great player.
“What he brings to the floor is scoring, blocking shots [and] rebounding. We all need to rebound more, we all need to, like what Coach Tim [Cone] says, which is to play better defense, not get beat because we don’t have a Japeth blocking shots out there.
“And offensively, we all need to score a little bit more to compensate for [the absence of] Japeth. But that comes with playing within the team,” added Standhardinger.
Standhardinger’s offensive surge is no surprise since he had played a similar role back in his days with Hong Kong Eastern in the Asean Basketball League and NorthPort when he was Best Player of the Conference in the 2019 Governors’ Cup.
After improving to 4-2, Ginebra can now get some much needed break, except for import Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo and Cone, who will all concentrate on Gilas Pilipinas for the Fiba (International Basketball Federation) World Cup Qualifiers window.
“At this point, it’s really gonna be [assistant coach Richard del Rosario’s] ball. He’s gonna take it and go with it,” Cone said. “I think the things that we’re gonna stress is our defensive habits, try to hone that with the guys that are still around.”
Blackwater fielded back Shawn Glover, but still slumped to a sixth straight loss for a 1-7 card. INQ