Appreciating the art of Vic Manuel’s simple but effective play

Naveen Ganglani

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Appreciating the art of Vic Manuel’s simple but effective play
Vic Manuel's play is one of the reasons the Alaska Aces are up 2-0 in the Philippine Cup finals. Naveen Ganglani breaks down tape of how he's getting the job done

MANILA, Philippines – When you look back at the 2012 PBA Draft, two names come to mind instantly: June Mar Fajardo and Calvin Abueva.

And really, why the hell not? Fajardo is already a two-time PBA MVP, the clear-cut best pure Filipino basketball player in the world today, and someone who will likely go down as the best PBA player ever, health-permitting.

Abueva, on the other hand, is the biggest enigma in the PBA. He can cause disruption on both ends of the floor at any moment with his supreme athleticism even if he’s just 6-foot-1. If the PBA ever had a player that resembles the great Charles Barkley, an undersized superb big, it’s him.

Now look down at the rest of the list, and certain names pop out: Alex Mallari, Cliff Hodge, Aldrech Ramos, Chris Ellis, and even Chris Tiu. 

Who was selected 9th overall in the 2012 Draft? Vic Manuel, by B-Meg (now Star), which traded him to GlobalPort. 

Not many knew of Manuel entering the draft, and only lately has he become a household name in the league. 

He was actually the MVP of two amateur leagues in the PBL and PBA D-League before going pro, but his simple style of play, even if effective, didn’t exactly jump off the TV screen like Abueva’s chaotic but entertaining approach or Fajardo’s towering dominance.

However, what’s become clear today is that Manuel is the third best player out of that draft class, and on some nights, you can even rank him above Abueva because of everything he offers the Alaska Aces.

Manuel, 28, is leading the Aces in scoring this conference at 15.3 points per game to go with 7.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting an absurd 56% from the field. Even crazier? He’s putting up those numbers while playing just 23 minutes a game off the bench.

He had to wait his time, making stops at both Meralco and Air21 before finding a home and system that suits him in Alaska, but eventually displayed the potential that made a promising standout from the not-so-known Philippine School of Business Administration. 

“Super player,” his head coach, Alex Compton, described Manuel after he scored 18 points and grabbed 7 boards in the Aces’ 83-80 Game 2 win to go up 2-0 in the Philippine Cup Finals.

“It would be great if we could say, ‘You know what, wala yan dati eh. Na-develop lang yan sa Alaska,’” added Compton. 

(He wasn’t like that before. He just developed at Alaska.)

Kaya lang, (But) he was the MVP of the PBL and the D-League… so the Muscle Man has been The Man for a long time, and he just got really a chance to show it in our team and I’m really glad we got him.”

Manuel’s play still doesn’t appeal to the casual basketball fan. He uses strength to create positioning in the low block for scoring chances. He utilizes nifty floaters and short stabs to trick defenders waiting for him at the rim. He relies more on his basketball intellect and intuition rather than athletic ability.

In other words, Manuel is a basketball purist’s dream.

“Vic’s got the capacity to dominate the game, and not a lot of guys do. He’s been, obviously, huge,” said Compton.

“I’m just aggressive when I get the ball,” said the actually soft-spoken Manuel in Filipino after Game 2, where he shot 8-of-11 from the floor. In the finals, he’s made 18-of-26 attempts against defenders like Yancy De Ocampo, Gabby Espinas, and Jay-R Reyes.

“I need to be aggressive, because I’m also an option for coach. He’ll look for me in the post.”

Whenever his teammates have looked for Manuel, he’s delivered nearly every time. Let’s take a look at how he damaged the Beermen in Game 2.

In the play below, Alaska veteran big Eric Menk notices that both De Ocampo and Arwind Santos have their eyes on Abueva who’s posting up on the left block. San Miguel is playing a 2-3 zone defense here, which means De Ocampo will help Santos contain the Alaska player who’s ready to attack.

Menk, who’s being guard by De Ocampo, then sets a pick on Chris Lutz – Manuel’s defender – on the right block. Manuel uses this screen to get open in the middle of the paint and converts a standstill floater over De Ocampo, who’s too late to block the shot:

 

On this next play, Manuel gets the ball on the right block against someone who’s probably as strong as him in Espinas. 

Espinas is covering Manuel’s right side, which is the right play since Manuel’s left is the baseline. However, there’s enough space for Manuel to spin left without going out of bounds, which he utilizes, followed by a short stab at the rim.

Espinas actually defends this shot well, but Manuel has developed such a soft touch that this hits nothing but net:

“Coach’s starting offense is different. He likes it to start with the bigs, then it moves around,” Manuel shared. There are valid reasons why Compton does this, and Manuel’s productivity is one of those.

This next play displays Manuel’s basketball IQ – and the benefit of playing with an all-time great sniper like Dondon Hontiveros. 

The play begins with Manuel giving Hontiveros a screen, which leads to a brief moment of opening for him to launch a 3-ball. Since it’s Hontiveros who’s about to shoot, both his original man – Ronald Tubid – and Manuel’s guy – Espinas – rush out to him.

This leaves Manuel with so much space on the right side inside the 3-point line to operate after Hontiveros gives him the ball back. Reyes, the next nearest SMB defender, then decides to stay near the rim to avoid getting blown by and allowing Manuel an easy lay-up.

Seeing what Reyes has decided, Manuel simply decides to rise up for an easy jumper. In. Two points:

On this next play – Manuel’s first basket of the second period – the action starts with him giving JVee Casio a screen outside the 3-point line. Manuel screens off Casio’s man, Alex Cabagnot, which forces his own defender, De Ocampo, to rush out and block Casio’s path.

While De Ocampo is blocking Casio’s way, Manuel already rolls to the rim and gets the ball back eventually. Knowing De Ocampo can’t catch up to Manuel in time and that Cabagnot is too small to block Manuel’s way, Santos rushes to meet the driving Manuel in the middle of the paint.

Santos is expecting Manuel to either attempt a layup or a floater from the middle of the paint, which is why he’s flat-footed here. Manuel notices this, so he glides to the right, leaving Santos in the dust, and is undettered as he completes an easy layup:

This next play is similar to the first GIF I broke down above, only in this one, Manuel is on the left block instead and it’s Ping Exciminiano giving him a screen in the middle of the paint.

Also another difference: Santos, who’s faster than De Ocampo, recovers in time to not allow Manuel an easy attempt. So what does Manuel do? He drives left and uses his body and strength to shield off Santos, then makes a sweet finger roll that takes a lot of practice to master:

“It just so happens that coach gives us confidence,” Manuel said after the game about how far he’s come as a basketball player.

“He likes the ball to go inside the frontline. It just so happens there are open lanes I can attack and easy baskets.”

This next play is similar to the GIF which involves Hontiveros above. Once again, Manuel gives Hontiveros a screen that draws both Hontiveros’ man – Marcio Lassiter – and Manuel’s defender – Santos.

With both guys on Hontiveros, Manuel once again has a ton of space to operate inside the 3-point line. Reyes is also the next rotating San Miguel defender here, but rather than pulling up for a jumper, Manuel meets Reyes in the paint.

So, how does Manuel’s high IQ show here? Well, instead of going straight up for a layup against Reyes’ out-stretched arm, Manuel flips a quick floater in a blink of an eye before Reyes can even fully leap off the floor. 

It kisses the glass and falls through the net:

This next one is my favorite, because it shows how dangerously versatile Manuel is.

The action starts on San Miguel’s possession where De Ocampo throws an errand cross-court pass which Manuel easily intercepts using his long arms. 

Manuel, whose ball-handling is underrated, then dribbles this down the end of the court and streams all the way for the easy layup, displaying his mix of length, strength, and speed:

The plays above show the variety of ways Manuel can hurt a team. He has the physical tools to be a great player alone, but with the mix of high-basketball IQ, he’s become a great player and one the Aces are very fortunate to have.

Sooner than later, he will get his due as one of the best the PBA has to offer. – Rappler.com

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