Ginebra grants C-Stan’s wish

stephen holt isaac go terrafirma

PHOTO: JEROME ASCANOBARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone felt bad letting Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle go after consummating a trade with Terrafirma for the pair of Isaac Go and Stephen Holt.

But the deal had to be made, especially since the 35-year-old Standhardinger made it known he would rather play in another system other than Cone’s signature triangle offense.

standhardinger

“For Christian, he stated to us a conference ago that he would prefer to play in a different system and under a different coach,” Cone disclosed Saturday shortly after the offseason’s biggest trade was finally pulled off.

“No doubt, he loved his teammates and playing for the Ginebra fans. But he felt it was better to move on.”

Also part of the trade was exchanging the first round picks of both teams in the Season 49 Draft set Sunday at Glorietta that will have the Gin Kings going up the list to No. 3 and the Dyip settling at No. 10.

“Since that time, we have contemplated various deals for him (Standhardinger), before finally settling on acquiring Stephen Holt and Isaac Go and the chance to move up in what we see is a strong draft,” said Cone.

Fresh legs for Gin Kings

The inclusion of Holt and Go to Ginebra also means adding youth to an aging roster, with Japeth Aguilar now 37 and longtime team captain LA Tenorio just turning 40 a few days ago.

“On our part, we felt we needed to get younger,” Cone added.

Again, it was a tough decision to make, according to the concurrent Gilas Pilipinas coach, especially with Standhardinger being Ginebra’s best player last season – and actually in strong contention for the MVP award.

“Let me just say, it was tough to move on from Christian and Stanley who were absolute studs for us over the past few years,” said Cone. “Stanley was absolutely dominating when we first acquired him. And Christian was the best player in the league next to June Mar [Fajardo] over the past couple of years.”

Cone though, didn’t mention the rookie the Gin Kings are eyeing for that precious No. 3 overall pick in the draft.

“We will miss Christian and Stanley and always appreciate the championships we won together. We wish them the best as they continue their careers,” he said.