Coach Tim Cone welcomes the return of Barangay Ginebra's beloved import Justin Brownlee for the coming PBA Governors' Cup as he believes the American's presence will somehow ease the load off Christian Standhardinger.
“Now that he has Justin with him, and we have a healthy group around him, I think that he’ll be able to play the role that best suits him,” Cone said in an interview on Noli Eala's Power and Play.
The Fil-German struggled at the start of his maiden conference with the Kings, although he later adjusted and tallied 14.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.
Cone said they attempted to mold Standhardinger as their "go-to guy” but they realized the Fil-German is more of a rebounder than a scorer.
“He’ll do all the dirty work for you. And he’s gonna score, but he’s not going to. If you force him to be the scorer, it’s going to be more difficult. He’s not a natural scorer. He’s not gonna shoot threes, he’s not gonna pull up for jump shots, he’s limited to offensive rebounds and putbacks, and put the ball on the floor and driving — kinda like a bigger Rudy Hatfield, if I may use the thing,” he said.
With Brownlee coming in, Cone said Standhardinger will be able to play his game.
“I think that will be a much, much better fit with someone like Justin around, to take the scoring load off Christian and allow Christian to do the things that he does really, really well,” said Cone.