PBA: Northport’s Standhardinger wanted to prove San Miguel made a mistake

Northport’s newly-acquired player Christian Standhardinger bared that he wanted to prove his old team San Miguel wrong and that they made a mistake in trading the Fil-German big.

Standhardinger made his debut for the Batang Pier on Wednesday against the Beermen themselves, and he played more than 45 minutes to lead his new squad to a thrilling 127-119 win.

The slotman had 18 points in the victory, including a crucial basket late which gave Northport more cushion.

After the match, Standhardinger spoke with ABS-CBN Sports’ Paul Lintag and opened up on his motivation heading into the match.

Per ABS-CBN Sports:

“When I played in San Miguel, I played what is it? 16 minutes a game? I say that very respectfully but I have to prove something to the coaching staff, wherever I play, I have to prove to them that I think they made a mistake.

“Maybe they didn’t make a mistake and they played me the right way right? Because we won two championships, and that’s okay. But me as a player… I gotta be the player that I can be and I play my heart out to prove to the coaching staff, to prove to coach Leo [Austria] that he could have played me more and I could have helped more.”

Although Standhardinger’s role increased in the Commissioner’s Cup where he defended TNT KaTropa import Terrence Jones mostly, the sophomore perhaps wanted a bigger role and be a key player for a franchise.

And judging from his 1st game with Northport, he could be just an integral piece to his new team’s aspirations of reaching the PBA Finals one day.

Standhardinger joins elite youngsters in Kevin Ferrer and Robert Bolick, and tested veterans like Sol Mercado and Jervy Cruz to form a solid core with the Batang Pier.

(Photo from PBA Images)