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.

Ranking The PBA Teams: The Teams At The Top

In the last of our three part series, we’ll review the PBA teams and rank them according to the strengths of their lineup.

(Missed #12-#9? Go here. For #8-#5, go here.)

Here are the teams at  #4 to #1.

#4 ALASKA ACES

Roster

Name	Position
Chris Banchero	G
Cyrus Baguio	G/F
Vic Manuel	F
Sonny Thoss	F/C
Calvin Abueva	F
Nonoy Baclao	F/C
Marion Magat	C
Rome de la Rosa	G/F
Chris Exciminiano	G
Dondon Hontiveros	G/F
Eric Menk	F/C
RJ Jazul	G
Tony de la Cruz	F
JV Casio	G
Kevin Racal	F

Analysis: The Alaska Aces is the team that proves that the whole can be worth so much more than the sum of its parts. On paper, they shouldn’t be able to beat teams like the Gin Kings or the Hotshots but they do. There is no clear cut superstar on their roster but somehow, the tenacity of Calvin Abueva, the smarts of JV Casio, the shooting of Dondon Hontiveros, the guile of Cyrus Baguio, the versatile skill set of Vic Manuel, the leadership of Tony de la Cruz and the inside presence of Sonny Thoss make them one of the harder teams to create a game plan for. Which means that on any given day, any of those players mentioned above may be the one who beats you.