Spoiler Alert: Not himself.
When it comes to recognizing greatness, there’s no better pair of eyes than those of the competitors.
Such was the case when TNT Tropang Giga RR Pogoy picked Barangay Ginebra San Miguel slotman Christian Standhardinger as his first choice for the Best Player of the Conference in the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup.
In this reel by One Sports before Game 1 of the finals between TNT and Ginebra that the latter won convincingly, Pogoy can be seen writing “Christian” as his pick for the Best Player of the Conference award.
How about his second choice?
“Ako siyempre,” he said before jotting down Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson at third.
Teammate Paul Varilla chimed in, saying with a big smile, “No Bro, ikaw number 1.”
It’s hard to blame Pogoy, though. After all, Standhardinger has been playing his best basketball yet for Ginebra this conference in the absence of big man Japeth Aguilar.
Before the finale, the Fil-German Standhardinger was leading the Best Player of the Conference race with 44.2 SPs (statistical points). He averaged 23.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists through the semifinals.
Cjay Perez is far behind with 38.3 SPs, while Ginebra forward Jamie Malonzo (34.7), Pogoy (34.7), and Thompson (34.3) rounded out the top five.
Aside from statistical points (45%), the selection of the BPC winner also includes media (30%) and players’ (25%) votes in the process.
And from the looks of it, it seems the 6-foot-8 Standhardinger is on track to win his second BPC award.