By Jonas Terrado
Christian Standhardinger is not the only Fil-foreigner who is making heads turn in the ASEAN Basketball League as seen in the first two weeks of 2018.
Standhardinger, the future San Miguel rookie, took a backseat this week after Fil-American Mike Williams led a torrid show that propelled the Saigon Heat to stunning victories over previously unbeaten teams Hong Kong Eastern and Chong Son Kung Fu.
Mike Williams
Williams, who was actually drafted in the 2015 PBA D-League draft but failed to see action, started the week by dropping 39 points as the Vietnamese club ended Hong Kong’s 7-0 start with a 121-115 overtime victory on the road.
He followed it up by scoring 24 points, playing all 40 minutes to help the Heat produce a 96-93 home win over Chong Son, which entered the contest on top with a perfect 4-0 slate.
Caelan Tiongson had 23 points and seven rebounds in a losing effort. The 25-year-old product of Biola University in Los Angeles has been one of the standout performers for the Chinese club, averaging 13.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in five games.
Fil-American point guard Jason Brickman of Thai side Mono Vampire remains as one of the ABL’s best ASEAN Heritage imports after with 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 9.9 assists. The 2016 Finals Most Valuable Player and his team were facing Tanduay Alab Pilipinas last night in Bangkok.
Joshua Munzon, the Los Angeles-based Fil-American, made his return to the Westports Malaysia Dragons at the start of the year and has produced 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals but failed to lead the team to wins over Alab and Mono Vampire.
Singapore’s Fil-Canadian guard AJ Mandani, the 30-year former PBA cager who frustrated Alab for 23 points in Wednesday’s 90-80 win at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Standhardinger remains ahead of his fellow Fil-foreigners in terms of efficiency.
Despite the loss to Saigon, he had 37 points and 19 rebounds for Hong Kong in the loss to the Heat, another reason why San Miguel can't wait to see him suit up in the PBA later this year.