MANILA, Philippines -- Christian Standhardinger has lived up to his reputation for tirelessness during Barangay Ginebra's recent stretch of games in the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup.

The Gin Kings needed Standhardinger to play longer minutes than usual after All-Star forward Japeth Aguilar went down with a knee injury just two games into the conference. Aguilar may be out for five more weeks, and is not expected to return until the playoffs.

Without Aguilar, Ginebra head coach has asked more from Standhardinger and the Filipino-German standout has delivered, increasing his production across the board in their past three games.

"Christian's now gone from playing 26, 28 minutes, sharing time with Japeth. Now, he's up to 42, 44 [minutes]," Cone said after the Gin Kings crushed Blackwater, 119-93, on Sunday night. "His job is really cut out for him right now. We expect a lot from him, and he's obviously delivering."

Standhardinger earned Player of the Game honors against the Bossing after putting up 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds, five assists, and a steal in 36 minutes. It's his third straight game in double-digits, after scoring 17 points against Magnolia and 29 against San Miguel last week.

The top overall pick in the 2017 PBA Rookie Draft deflected the credit to his teammates, noting that they are all stepping up to cover for Aguilar's absence.

"Well obviously, missing Japeth is a big hit for the team. And that's a great thing about our team -- as a unit, we know what we have to compensate for since we are missing such a great player like Japeth," Standhardinger pointed out.

This includes rebounding more and staying in front of their man better, knowing that Aguilar is not around as the last line of defense inside the paint.

"And offensively, we have to all score a little bit more to compensate for Japeth. But that comes from playing within the team," said Standhardinger.

"[Scoring] 27 [points] sounds great, but if you think about it, my teammates found me. Basically I only threw it up for a layup. I got spoon-fed this game," he added. "I'm appreciative and happy that I have great teammates that see the right play and put me exactly right where I needed."

Standhardinger, 33, is currently averaging 13.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game for the defending Governors' Cup champions.

Ginebra led by as much as 28 points against the Bossing, and finished with 33 assists on 48 made field goals. The win got them back on track after losing back-to-back games to Magnolia and San Miguel.

The Gin Kings now have a 4-2 win-loss record heading into the FIBA break, as four of their players have been called up to the Gilas Pilipinas team for the upcoming World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

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