GILAS-ables: Vic Manuel

“GILAS-ables” is a series of articles that will discuss different players who could make a case for joining the Gilas pool. This series will include Filipinos and Fil-foreign players plying their trade not just in the PBA but also in other leagues, including the US NCAA, the UAAP, and the PBA D-League.

In the fourth article in this series, we’ll talk about a player who’s represented the Philippines in international 3x3 competitions already but has not generated even a single peep with regards to his possible inclusion in the Gilas pool.

PLAYER INFO

Name: Manuel, Vic

Team: Alaska Aces

Height: 6’ 4”

Weight: 201 lbs

College: PSBA

PBA STATS

Current Season:

16.4 points per game, 8 rebounds per game, 1.2 assists per game, 1.4 steals per game

Career:

8.8 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game, 1 assist per game, .5 steals per game

WHY HE SHOULD BE IN THE GILAS POOL

Much like Sean Anthony, a Gilas-able discussed earlier, Vic Manuel was a so-so player until this year, when something suddenly clicked inside the head of the 4-year veteran.

From GILASable to Gilas Able: Raymond Almazan

It's good to be right.

Last December 4, this blogger named Rain Or Shine's Raymond Almazan as one of the GILASables (players who should be accorded an invite to the Gilas 4.0 pool). (Read the article here)

Last Monday, Almazan’s game long brilliance was the key to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters cruising past the suddenly toothless Talk ‘N Test Tropang Texters to make their way into the seminfinal round. Almazan shone with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while making life extremely difficult for the Texters’ duo of promising big men Moala Tautuua and Troy Rosario (both, incidentally, are part of the Gilas pool)

After the game, this happened.

WHAT THIS MEANS

Bye-bye, Ian Sangalang. He was one of the most surprising picks made by Tab Baldwin, seeing as he was coming off an injury-filled year and had not played in a long while. But his height (always a big factor when talking about international basketball), his varied skill set and his potential was enough for Baldwin to take a gamble.