MANILA, Philippines – It was a choice that hardly needed any debate.

Christian Standhardinger emerged the unanimous pick as PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period of March 1 to 5 after continuing his stellar play for Barangay Ginebra in the Governors’ Cup.

Stepping up for injured teammate Japeth Aguilar, the Filipino-German averaged 29 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists as the Gin Kings toppled Meralco, Phoenix, and Converge to sweep their three-game slate for the week.

The trio of wins propelled Ginebra to a tie with San Miguel at 7-2 for joint second place, a victory away from clinching a twice-to-beat bonus in the quarterfinals.

“With Japeth out, [Christian is] getting heavier minutes and we have to go to him. He is responding big, big time,” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone.

Standhardinger started the week with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists in a 112-107 win over the Bolts and then chalked up 28 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists in a 109-89 rout of the Fuel Masters.

With no signs of slowing down, the former Best Player of the Conference churned out 28 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists to cap his string of near triple-double performances as Ginebra drubbed the FiberXers, 120-101.

Standhardinger bested NLEX gunner Don Trollano for the weekly honor given out by the men and women regularly covering the PBA beat.

Trollano made a case for himself after firing a career-high 44 points in a 142-125 thrashing of Terrafirma that saw him break the PBA record for most consecutive three-pointers made in a game with nine straight triples.

But the consistent dominance shown by Standhardinger made him the runaway winner.

Magnolia’s Calvin Abueva and Meralco’s Aaron Black received votes as the third choices for the weekly plum. – Rappler.com