CARDEL UPBEAT ON HAVING STANDHARDINGER, PRINGLE
MANILA, Philippines — Terrafirma coach John Cardel believes newly-acquired veterans Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle are massive upgrades for the Dyip, who are coming off a rare playoff stint in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup.
The Dyip acquired the 6-foot-8 Standhardinger and Pringle after trading Stephen Holt and young big man Isaac Go to the Barangay Ginebra Kings.
The trade, which was approved on Saturday, also saw Ginebra swap first round picks for Sunday's (July 14) PBA Rookie Draft.
Asked if age could be an issue since the Filipino-German big man is already 35, while Pringle is 37, Cardel said he could make the necessary adjustments to ensure the two PBA veterans remain fresh.
"I can adjust as a coach, but we know that both can't just go on hard practice daily. But what I'm confident is that these two are veterans who know what to do during the games, so I'm not worried about our trade," Cardel told the Manila Times in Filipino.
Standhardinger has shown no signs of slowing down after averaging 19.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists for Ginebra in Season 48. He also emerged no. 2 in the stats race for the season's Most Valuable Player.
Cardel sees the many-time Gilas Pilipinas big man as a "second coach" and mentor to his younger players, particularly incoming sophomore big man Kemark Carino.
The 6-foot-9 Carino is seen as a future solid big man for the Dyip. In fact, the former San Beda slot man averaged modest numbers of 5.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in the Philippine Cup.
"I expect CStand to be like a mentor and like coach na din sa team, especially to our young big men," said Cardel.
As for Pringle, the 2014 top overall pick in the PBA Draft, is a reunion of sorts with Cardel.
"I remember assisting Stanley during his rookies season when I was still part of the GlobalPort (now NorthPort) coaching staff. Stan's really a hard worker, who at that time, was working on his outside shooting in practice," recalled Cardel.
With Pringle, the Dyip mentor sees the Filipino-American combo guard playing beautiful music with Juami Tiongson at the backcourt.
The 6-foot-1 Pringle averaged 9.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists, mostly coming off the bench for Ginebra last season.
2024-07-14T06:51:25Z