Christian Standhardinger looks like the runaway winner of the Best Player of the Conference award in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
In the absence of LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel forward dubbed as The Bulldozer has powered his way through every basket, garnering 44.2 statistical points (SPs) built on 23.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists at the end of the semifinals.
Cjay Perez is at second place with 38.3 SPs. Ginebra, however, eliminated Perez's San Miguel Beermen in the best-of-five semifinals.
Before guessing who the next BPC will be, we ranked the last 10 winners of the said honor. To be specific, the list is based on the Governors' Cup versions of these players and their accomplishments in the said conference.
9. Ranidel De Ocampo (2014)
This was the Ranidel De Ocampo that would soon shock the world with his unorthodox moves and deadly outside sniping.
While he finished fifth in the statistical race, he managed to beat June Mar Fajardo and Asi Taulava for the award by amassing a total of 1084 points built on 541 media votes and 150 PBA votes.
There was no championship for the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters that conference though as the San Mig Coffee Mixers completed a grand slam under the legendary Tim Cone.
8. Christian Standhardinger (2019)
The Filipino-German had a breakout campaign when he was traded from San Miguel to the NorthPort Batang Pier four games into the conference.
A 33-point and 23-rebound effort in a 126-123 win against the NLEX Road Warriors in triple overtime in the quarterfinals was beyond impressive. But his Batang Pier eventually fell at the hands of Ginebra in the semifinals.
He’s the first player from NorthPort and the second from an eight-seed team to win the award.
7. Mark Caguioa (2012)
2012 Mark Caguioa was a fearsome Mark Caguioa. While he spent the twilight years of his decorated basketball career playing sparingly for Ginebra, early in the 2010s, he was still at his best.
How dominant was the other half of the Fast and Furious duo then? In the previous conference that year, he was also named BPC.
And while he didn’t win the Governors’ Cup championship with Ginebra, the spitfire guard did console himself with a season MVP plum.
6. Jayson Castro (2016)
The TNT KaTropa raced to the top of the ladder at the end of the elimination round with a 10-1 win-loss record, thanks in large part to Jayson Castro.
He fired 42 points to eliminate the Phoenix Fuel Masters in the quarterfinals. But despite his Herculean efforts, TNT bowed to the Meralco Bolts in the semifinals, where he averaged 22.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists.
The two-time Best Point Guard in Asia edged Fajardo in the battle for the award.
5. Paul Lee (2018)
This individual accolade doesn’t come by easily for Paul Lee, no thanks to a slew of injuries.
This was, in fact, the only BPC plum for the man dubbed as Lethal Weapon for his offensive repertoire.
But with him and import Romeo Travis joining forces in the 2018 import-spiced conference, the Magnolia Hotshots won it all that year. It was the last time they took home the season-ending conference title.
4. Greg Slaughter (2017)
This was probably the only time the 7-foot behemoth was perfectly healthy.
And it definitely did wonders for Ginebra, which made quick work of the Fajardo-led Beermen in the quarterfinals, beat TNT in the semifinals, and went on to outlast Allen Durham and the Bolts in a classic finale.
GregZilla, who is now playing for Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka in Japan B.League’s Division 2, bested Chris Newsome, Fajardo, and Jayson Castro for the award.
3. Scottie Thompson (2021)
This was when fans were convinced Scottie Thompson is the new face of the crowd darlings.
The do-it-all guard did almost everything as Ginebra beat rival Meralco in the finals, 4-2. Thompson was adjudged Finals MVP.
It was an outstanding conference for the former NCAA MVP. Through the semifinals, he normed 13.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 6.4 assists.
2. June Mar Fajardo (2015)
It’s tough to be productive when every time you hold the ball, two or three bodies are thrown at you.
But June Mar Fajardo was no ordinary player. This was Abai at the peak of his powers, winning the Finals MVP after helping the Beermen sweep the Alaska Aces in the finale.
He was also crowned MVP for the second straight time in a year that also saw him win the Philippine Cup BPC.
1. Arwind Santos (2011 and 2013)
Before the JMF era, the Beermen, then called the Petron Blaze Boosters, had Arwind Santos as their main man.
In 2011, the lanky forward gave the powerhouse squad the championship after beating grand slam-seeking TNT in the finals, 4-3. He was hailed Finals MVP.
Two years later, he won the BPC award again and consequently the season MVP award. But the Boosters eventually fell into the hands of San Mig Coffee, which captured the first of its four straight championships.
How would your list go?