Barangay Ginebra big man Christian Standhardinger ran away with the Davco Best Player of the Conference award while TNT reinforcement Rondae Hollis-Jefferson edged Justin Brownlee for the Coins.PH Best Import plum in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday, April 16.

Christian Standhardinger (left) wins his second Best Player of the Conference award while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson edges Justin Brownlee for the Best Import (PBA Images)

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The two were awarded moments before the tip-off of the pivotal Game 4 of the Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

It was Standhardinger’s second BPC award since first winning the trophy back in 2020 when he was still with NorthPort. He amassed a total of 1110 points – a combined points from the statistics and votes from the members of the press and PBA players. 

Standhardinger beat TNT’s RR Pogoy who finished second with 672 points and San Miguel’s CJ Perez who was at the third spot with 561 points. Teammates Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo ended up fourth and fifth with 497 and 456 points, respectively.

Embracing a much bigger role for the Kings following the injury to Japeth Aguilar, the 6-foot-8 center successfully held the fort and made a huge leap statistically to lead the BPC derby for the most part of the conference.

Standhardinger has been a force inside for Ginebra all throughout the conference and was a vital part why the Kings are in a position to retain its season-ending conference title. He is averaging 20.33 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists, while shooting 54 percent through the three games in the Finals.

Meanwhile, Hollis-Jefferson held on to the top spot against Brownlee to emerge as the best foreign player in the conference.

The prolific TNT import garnered 1,147 points to edge his closest rival in Brownlee who, on the other hand, mustered 966 points. Hollis-Jefferson led the statistical race at the end of the eliminations until the end of the semifinals although found some resistance from Brownlee who tried to catch up during the playoffs.

The former NBA player came in as a replacement to the Tropang Giga’s Jaylen Hudson and proved to be a vital cog to his team’s return trip to the Finals. He is averaging 28.33 points, 16.33 rebounds and 6.67 assists on a 51 percent shooting through the first three games.