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Vic Manuel: MVP
by Joseph W. Buduan (March 25, 2010)

That title has a nice ring to it – and it might become more than just a title soon. When some of the more knowledgeable basketball pundits first heard that Vic Manuel was going to play for Pharex B in this ongoing PG Flex Erase Placenta Cup, they were about equally divided. Some of them thought he might finally get his break with a new young team. Some thought he would remain in obscurity with a new young team. Some thought he had more than enough game to take on the rest of the PBL. Some thought his game was as good as it would get in the wild and wooly NCRAA tournament.

Over a month after this conference opened, Manuel is now in the Finals along with the rest of Pharex B. Oh, and he is considered by many as the favorite to be named this conference’s Most Valuable Player. That’s not so bad for a man whose previous PBL stint was marked by languishing for long stretches on the pines and not really getting his game going. Now Manuel is the hot topic on everyone’s lips, the new superstar of the PBL. Averaging over 15 points and eight boards throughout the eliminations, he provided a steady presence for Pharex B even in tough situations. He almost always led the team in scoring and rebounds, and might have easily produced more if head coach Aboy Castro had given asked him to. “We were very fortunate to get Vic Manuel because we really needed an athlete on this team and Vic fit the bill,” he explained in one interview. “(Guard) Mark Lopez is the only pure athlete we have right now, so Vic helped a lot in that respect,” he added.

While a lot of people were caught by surprise at how good Manuel is, a few were privileged enough to have known for the longest time that he is indeed a special player. One low key recruiter once tried to bring him to the UAAP. As is the case in these endeavors, Manuel’s NCRAA team didn’t take that too kindly. This recruiter spoke on condition of anonymity. “I first saw Vic about three years ago, and I thought this kid is really special. He was so athletic, could dunk on a vertical, could run fast and change directions fast, could use both hands,” he recalled. “I tried to bring him to a couple of university belt UAAP schools but that just didn’t work out, through no fault of his. He could have been a big-name star for the UAAP with his talent and skill, and I knew he has what it takes to make it big even in the PBL,” he added.

His rise to PBL stardom has indeed been meteoric. As close as a week or so before opening day he was actually still playing late night pick-up basketball games at the legendary YCL court in the Quirino Community of Project 2 in Quezon City. He had an opportunity to play against former Blu Detergents enforcer Jong Arquero, former PBA star Epoy Jalmasco, former UST Glowing Goldie and Manila Bulletin correspondent Chito Chavez, PBA hopeful Anthony Cuevas, former UE player Don Paclibare and even another current PBL player in former FEU mainstay Jun Tanuan, who played for FERN C this conference. Who would have thought he would make this big a name for himself in so short a time? “We were just playing pick-up games with him on Monday and Friday nights, basically just playing for soda money and junk food. We didn’t even know he was trying out with Pharex-UP, then we just heard through the grapevine that he made the PBL with Pharex,” explained Paclibare.

Manuel is himself a man of few words, and in his couple of interviews this conference after being selected Best Player of the Game, he always deflected praise to his teammates and his coaches. “Nagpapasalamat lang ako kay Coach Aboy kasi binigyan niya ako ng chance dito sa Pharex. Nagpapasalamat din ako sa mga teammates ko kasi hindi naman kami mananalo kung hindi kami mag-effort as a team talaga,” he humbly declared in one post-game interview. That was of course after he had once again scored close to 30 points and hauled in a boatload of rebounds to help his team secure a huge win.

Manuel has indeed come a long way, and nothing short of a PBL championship would really make his day. However, he might also consider one other piece of bling that players win just as rarely as titles: an MVP award. Being the statistical leader for a team in the Finals and securing the best record in the eliminations have certainly helped his cause. Whether or not the PBL sees it that way is of course a matter of some dispute. Jimbo Aquino and even Calvin Abueva might have something to say about that since they will face Manuel and Pharex for the championship.

They’d better be ready to face the best player in the league.

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