MANILA -- Probably, only the San Miguel coaching staff expected Chris Standhardinger to show up and even play on Saturday night, barely two hours off from the airport following his Asian Games stint in Jakarta.
But him being on a zone the moment he stepped foot at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, despite being late into the start of the game, was something even Coach Leo Austria and company did not see coming.
Expected to play rusty against the NLEX Road Warriors, Standhardinger played as if he was not at Jakarta at all, dropping a PBA career-high of 36 points, only needing 17 shots to do so, to lead the Beermen to a 125-112 win.
"I am so happy for him because he was able to show what is happening to him during the Asian Games," Austria said of Standhardinger, who prior to the explosion made 27 points in back-to-back games to lead GIlas to a fifth place finish in the Asiad.
The six-foot-eight forward, who Austria called a "warrior" for his performance, was named the Cignal-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week.
Standhardinger got the nod over TNT's Jayson Castro, Ginebra's Japeth Aguilar, Magnolia's Mark Barroca and Rome Dela Rosa, Phoenix's Jason Perkins, and NLEX's Kenneth Ighalo. (PNA)
