VIC MANUEL is a nine-year Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) veteran who hasn’t won a single championships.
He hopes to end that drought with his new team San Miguel Beer (SMB).
“SMB is a champion team, a very strong one,” Manuel, 34, said. “I still don’t have a PBA title and I think San Miguel could give me one.”
Manuel found himself wearing a Beerman uniform in the Governors’ Cup—which opens later this month—after he was traded by NorthPort for two-time Most Valuable Player Arwind Santos.
The trade came as a surprise with Ramos leaving a team that was his home in the PBA for the last 11 seasons.
“But I really need to be in good condition and stay healthy to contribute to San Miguel Beer’s campaign,” said Manuel, a burly 6-foot-4 product of the Philippine School of Business Administration.
He is recovering from a groin injury but is good to go for the second conference that is expected to overlap 2022 in February.
Manuel came so close to winning his first PBA crown but Alaska squandered a 3-0 series lead in the 2015-2016 Philippine Cup Finals to the team he will play for starting this year—SMB.
There were five other close calls for Manuel, plus one against Rain or Shine in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup where he was injured and another against Magnolia in the 2018 Governors’ Cup.
Manuel averages 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in nine years he capped with a breakthrough season with Alaska in 2017 when he posted a 16 points per game norm. In the last conference, he tallied 12.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in a brief stint with Phoenix.
Manuel said he is willing to sacrifice his old role as go-to guy at crunch time with his previous teams at SMB.
“There are many great and talented players at San Miguel Beer, but I’m okay to be a role player,” he said. “I will contribute the best way I can.”
The Beermen brought back the 6-foot-6 Brandon Brown as their reinforcement.
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