Vic Manuel and Abu Tratter are making their way back to Gilas Pilipinas, as they have been invited to join the national team’s pool for the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers’ first window set later this February.
In a report by Gerry Ramos of Spin.ph Tuesday, the Alaska Aces’ main man received the invite following the withdrawal of Christian Standhardinger, Japeth Aguilar, and Mac Belo last week.
This marks Manuel’s second tour of duty with the Nationals since the 30th Southeast Asian Games last year.
There, the bruising 6-foot-4 forward from Nueva Ecija impressed with per-game averages of 15.6 points and 4.2 rebounds. His performances helped the Tim Cone-mentored Gilas win the gold medal.
On the other hand, Tratter also isn’t new to Gilas. He was a member of the squad that played versus Australia in the second window of the FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers in February 2018.
Manuel and Tratter are the latest additions to the pool after Justin Chua, who was added over the weekend.
Chua serves as a replacement for Aguilar in the roster. He had already joined the national team’s practices last Sunday at the Meralco Gym in Pasig.
Gilas now has over a week to prepare before facing Thailand on the 20th at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
