IS there more to Christian Standhardinger's absence from Terrafirma's games than meets the eye?
The Fil-German big man was not around when the new-look Dyip opened their campaign in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday night in a 116-87 loss to Converge FiberXers at the Philsports Arena.
Asked about the whereabouts of the 6-foot-8 Standhardinger, new Dyip coach Raymund Tiongco gave out a cryptic reply.
READ Converge deals Terrafirma a 29-point beating
“Si C-Stan, no comment. Alam ninyo na yun,” said Tiongco, who was elevated to the head-coaching position of the franchise following the exit of long-time mentor Johnedel Cardel.
The former first-round pick, acquired by Terrafirma in a trade with Barangay Ginebra prior to the start of Season 49, has also not been showing up in the team practices.
“Hindi na,” was his short reply if Standhardinger is practicing with the team.
A text message sent by SPIN.ph to Terrafirma team governor Bobby Rosales has yet to get a reply as of post time.
Talk of C-Stan’s no-show surfaced in the wake of the major trade the team pulled off a few days ago that saw it ship Juami Tiongson and Andreas Cahilig to San Miguel for Terrence Romeo and Vic Manuel.
Standhardinger only played for six games with the Dyip in the season opening Governors’ Cup before being shut down for the rest of the conference due to a hyper-extended left knee.
Despite the limited playing time, he still led the team in scoring with a 16.33-point average on 53.5 percent shooting and finished just behind former teammate June Mar Fajardo in rebounding with 8.6 boards, while playing 34.4 minutes per outing.
He played his last game with Terrafirma in a 133-107 loss to Northport last Sept. 8 where he sustained his knee injury.
The Dyip ended their campaign with a 1-9 record and failed to advance in the playoffs.
PBA sale? All the Terrafirma players traded over past four months
Standhardinger’s contract with Terrafirma expires at the end of the year.
The fate of Standhardinger was a sad turnaround from what had been a huge Season 48 for him where he finished second in the MVP race behind Fajardo and made it to the First Mythical Team.
But with Barangay Ginebra failing to make the finals in two of the conferences last season, the 35-year-old big man found himself on the go along with Stanley Pringle and the 10th overall selection as they were shipped to the Dyip by the Kings for the duo of Stephen Holt, Isaac Go, and the No. 3 overall pick.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
