CHRISTIAN Standhardinger has started attending Barangay Ginebra practices in Batangas City, signaling a new chapter in the career of one of the PBA's top bigs.
Standhardinger arrived from NorthPort in a blockbuster trade with fellow big man Greg Slaughter a few months ago and had little trouble easing into his third team since being selected No. 1 by San Miguel in the 2017 rookie draft.
According to Ginebra assistant coach Richard Del Rosario, Standardinger's familiarity with coach Tim Cone’s system gained from his time with Gilas Pilipinas in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games made the transition seamless.
“Christian has been in practice since we resumed in Batangas,” said Del Rosario, who supervises the Gin Kings’ practice. “He is familiar with our concepts since he had a taste of it at the last SEA Games so it’s more of a refresher course for him now.”

Standhardinger, 31, played alongside Stanley Pringle, LA Tenorio, and Japeth Aguilar in the gold medal-winning Gilas team and will be counted upon to play a key role in the Gin Kings' defense of the Philippine Cup championship.
But even with the familiarity with the system, Del Rosario said Standhardinger still needs time to mesh with the entire team.
“It’s just a matter of developing chemistry with his new team and hopefully we can get him well adjusted in the next few weeks,” said Del Rosario.
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