With the Meralco defense focusing on him, Christian Standhardinger dug deep into his offensive arsenal and delivered with a facet of his game that is rarely seen from him.

The 34-year-old big man, known as bruiser who would bulldoze and power his way inside the paint to score, displayed a feathery touch from mid range to drop a game-high 34 points and help Barangay Ginebra essay a come-from-behind 89-84 win over Meralco in Game 5.

Standhardinger even had a stretch when he scored six straight points from his jumpers from around the elbow, fueling the huge fourth quarter rally that erased a once 15-point deficit for the Kings.

The 6-foot-8 center, however, was quick to play down the stellar display of his mid-range game, stressing that he was just taking what the defense was giving him.

“You just tried to read what the defense is giving you and that’s what it was. It was a little short roll and the coach tells me to shoot that if it’s open, obviously I take it,” said Standhardinger who made the Meralco defense pay after sagging inside the paint to defend his drives towards the baskets.

Ginebra head coach Tim Cone shared that the team has full confidence in Standhardinger’s mid-range game, knowing full well how much effort the Fil-German big man is exerting in practice to polish his shot.

“He works it all the time. He has faith in it. We have faith in it,” said Cone.

“When guys are going to back off like they do for his drive, he can take that shot and make it. He did that at a really high percentage tonight but that just through the hard work that he does,” added the veteran tactician.

More than his shot-making abilities, Standhardinger is putting more premium on making the good reads on Meralco’s defense and taking advantage of it the best way possible – be it scoring the ball or finding his open teammates.

For one, it was not an easy task for Standhardinger to remain effective despite being hounded by the Bolts plethora of big men in Raymond Almazan, 

“It’s really the decision making that is the challenge for me, for us, in the semifinals. They change a lot in the coverage so I'm just trying to make the right read and make the right decision,” said Standhardinger.

“They’re strong too. Let’s not underestimate that. Those are not weak guys but, again, I just try to look at each one of them, trying to find where my advantage lies with each single coverage. that’s the goal,” he added, referring to the Bolts defense.